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Secondary sourceBookc. 270 AD

Life of Pythagoras

Porphyry · c. 270 AD

Porphyry's Neoplatonist biography of Pythagoras, drawing on earlier sources, records his birth, teachings, the attack at Croton and stories of miracles attributed to him.

Porphyry's biography preserves earlier accounts of Pythagoras's life, teachings and the attack on his followers at Croton.

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Black cover of a book with gold lettering reading 'THE LIFE OF PYTHAGORAS' in two lines at the top. The rest of the cover is plain black.
Porphyry, Life of Pythagoras, c. 270 AD. Abridged edition.

About this source

What it is

The Life of Pythagoras (Vita Pythagorae) was written by the Neoplatonist philosopher Porphyry around 270 AD. It draws on earlier 4th-century BC writers such as Dicaearchus and Aristoxenus to describe Pythagoras's birth, travels, teachings and the violent attack on his followers at Croton.

Why it matters

Because Porphyry used sources written much closer to Pythagoras's own time, his biography preserves details that might otherwise be lost, even though it was written centuries later and mixes fact with legend, including miracle stories. It reflects how later philosophers like Porphyry saw Pythagoras as an almost divine figure.

Look closer

  • Why might a biographer writing centuries later still be a useful source if he is using older, now-lost texts?
  • How does the inclusion of miracle stories affect how much we should trust this account?
  • What might this biography tell us about how later Greeks and Romans viewed Pythagoras, rather than about Pythagoras himself?

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