Pythagoras Byzantinus

The Pythagoras Byzantinus research project aims to fill an important gap in our knowledge and understanding of the history and forms of reception of Pythagoras and Pythagoreanism in Middle and Late Byzantium, a gap that has been highlighted in the international academic bibliography.

In contrast to other Medieval traditions (Latin, Arabic, Syriac and Jewish), the reception of Pythagoras and Pythagoreanism in Byzantium has not yet been studied systematically. In the relevant bibliography, there are only sporadic or fragmentary references to Pythagorean resonances in Middle and Late Byzantine texts, while the number of articles dealing with it is still extremely limited. At the same time, eminent contemporary historians of philosophy have repeatedly stressed the need to explore this rather understudied thematic field.

In order to fill this existing research gap and improve our understanding of the reception of Pythagoras and Pythagoreanism in Middle and Late Byzantium, this project will be articulated and developed mainly around six thematic axes:

1. Pythagoras and the mathematical sciences (quadrivium) in Byzantine sources.

2. The occult Pythagoras and proto-sciences (alchemy and astrology).

3. Pythagorean way of life: ethical and political echoes and revivals in Byzantine literature and culture.

4. References to and representations of Pythagoras and Pythagoreanism in Byzantine culture

5. Pythagorean echoes in Christian forms of asceticism (silence, fasting, vegetarianism, and miracles)

6. Ambivalence to and criticism of Pythagoras and (Neo) Pythagoreanism in Byzantium.



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