Pythagoras: His Life and Teaching, a Compendium of Classical Sources (68 page)

p. 318 Empedocles
“strife”

Stanley is closely paraphrasing Reuchlin here, but he supplies the Greek term where Reuchlin remains in Latin. The doctrine of Empedocles asserted that creation and destruction were impossible, but that which appeared to be either of these arises from the union or separation of the four eternal elements of Air, Earth, Fire and Water. The unifying principle was signifed by
“love,” while the separative principle was its opposite
, “strife” or “contention,” the latter being a synonym of
.

“O mortal kind! O ye poor sons of grief! From such contentions and such sighings sprung!”—Empedocles, 124.2.

(Leonard,
The Fragments of Empedocles
, p. 57)

p. 322 Having overcome these things (says Pythagoras) thou shalt know
the cohabitation of the immortal gods, and mortal men.

This quote is a short paraphrase of Reuchlin, whose longer version closely follows the Golden Verses: “from Pythagoras, who wrote in the the Golden Verses: ‘When you cast aside the body you come to the free aether, you will be a god and immortal. When the things of this life are overcome, you will know the dwelling together (which he elegantly termed
because they ‘stand together’) of immortal gods and mortal men.”

Reuchlin was quoting from two different places within the Golden Verses. The first portion of the quote is the last two lines of the Golden Verses: “Then should you be separated from the body, and soar in the
aethyr. You will be imperishable, a divinity, a mortal no more.” (Guthrie,
The Pythagorean Sourcebook
, p. 165). The second portion of the quote is lines 49-51: “If this you hold fast, soon will you recognize of Gods and mortal men.” (Ibid, p. 164.) For the Greek text, see Gaisford,
Poetæ Minories Gracæ
Vol. 3, pp.282-283. Cf. Goodman,
Johann Reuchlin, On the Art of the Kabbalah. De Arte Cabalistica
, pp. 196-197.

p. 322 styled by Homer
, inextinguishable laughter.

From the
Iliad
, I:595-600: “the white-armed goddess Hera smiled, and smiling took the cup at her son's hand. Then he poured wine to all the other gods from right to left, ladling the sweet nectar from the bowl. And
laughter unquenchable
arose amid the blessed gods to see Hephaistos bustling through the palace.” (Lang, Leaf & Meyers.
Homer's Iliad done into English Prose
, p. 20) For the Greek text, see Monro,
Homer, Iliad, Books I-XII
, p. 20. Cf. Goodman,
Johann Reuchlin, On the Art of the Kabbalah. De Arte Cabalistica
, pp. 198-199.

p. 327 For men often straying from the rule of right reason precipitate themselves into misery,
, in Pythagoras's word,
incurring ills voluntary.

From the Golden Verses, “Men shall you find whose sorrows they themselves have created.” (Guthrie, The Pythagorean Sourcebook, p. 164. Greek text in Gainsford,
Poetæ Minories Gracæ.
Vol. 3, p. 283.)

p. 327 Thus is man placed between Virtue and Vice, like the stalk between the two branches in the Pythagorical Y.

“In this way, man seems poised between virtue and vice. This brings to mind the Pythagorean letter “Y,” with its upright split into two branches.” (Goodman,
Johann Reuchlin, On the Art of the Kabbalah. De Arte Cabalistica
, p. 167)

p. 327 Tartarus, by those who endure infinite torments,
(as Plato, imitating Pythagoras, says) whence they never come out.