Delahoyde & Hughes A 6th-century BCE Greek philosopher and
mathematician, originally from Samos (an island off the coast of
Asia Minor settled by the Greeks), and born about 570 BCE, he
left home around 530 BCE to escape the tyranny of the autocrat
Polycrates. He lived in southern Italy, influencing city
politics until the turn of the century when the citizens
revolted against his influence and forced him to settle in
Metapontum instead. Followers venerated him and they formed some
sort of religious order. Although he did not set down his ideas
in written form, Pythagorean centers sprang up throughout the
Greek mainland during the 5th century BCE, including in Thebes
and Athens, so he certainly influenced Socrates and therefore
Plato. Legends include an instance of a superhuman voice wishing
Pythagoras good morning as he was crossing the river Casas, and
his being able to appear in both Croton and Metapontum on the
same day at the same hour. Pythagoras' concepts included the
mathematical order of the cosmos,