Each island in the archipelago of Greece is enchanting,picturesque and graceful in its own way.Only 3 out of 225 inhabited islands I have visited so far.But that experience has acted in me as an appetizer to visit more of these mesmerizing landscapes,given a chance.
Ancient Greece-main land and islands- has produced a lot of great people who have influenced the rest of the world right from Alexander the great and host of great philosophers and scientists.Among these, one of the Greek islands named Samos has produced a great mathematician whose name is very very common even among school children anywhere in the world to this day - Pythagoras. His theorem A2
+B2 = C2 is universal and being applied in millions of contexts each day.But what most of us may not be aware is that he was more a philosopher than a mathematician during his time!
Beautiful island of Samos has also produced few other world known personalities like Epicurus and Aesop.While Epicurus was a philosopher, Aesop, the ancient story teller who is popular to this day, was a slave who got freedom from his master.More about Pythagoras who said"Shortest words yes and no are those which require the most thought" about 2500 years !
If you get a good wife it is fine, if not...... I do not know about the authenticity of a hilarious saying credited to Socrates over which we all chuckle-men little more -" By all means marry.If you get a good wife,you will be happy.If you get a bad one,you will be a philosopher."I am sure that is not the reason why ancient Greece has produced hundreds of renowned philosophers.One of the earliest philosophers ever lived in Greece is none other than Pythagoras.That was in around 500 BC, before Socrates who lived about 100 years after him.
No doubt that as we all know,three most famous Greek philosophers are Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.Interestingly all the three were Athenians-from Athens- and knew each other.But few knows that it was Thales along with Pythagoras who lived earlier to them who influenced to form Greek philosophy to take its western form later as we know. Pythagoras who was a known scientist,musician and philosopher of his time became popular in the world later as a mathematician only.From his island of Samos in Greece he traveled to other few centers of knowledge accessible to him- to Italy, Egypt and Babylon.It is recorded that he interacted with a lot of learned people of his kind to produce his school of thought.
Pythagorean school of thought....
Pythagoras is believed to have been the first person to coin the word -philosopher in the world.It is based on the meaning 'lover of ideas'.Apart from Maths and Science, Pythagoras is believed to have started a sort of secret group or cult with their own beliefs or philosophy.They-both men and women- walked barefoot and had long hair.They were celibates,vegetarians(except eating beans which was a taboo for them!) and believed in reincarnation of life and religious mysticism.
Pythagorean cup..
I am not aware whether Pythagoras used to drink alcohol or not regularly.But his desire to design a cup for the purpose 2500 years back shows that he was aware of the regular problem of those who indulge in that- to keep oneself within the limits.Interestingly he scientifically designed a cup which forces the drinker to consume alcohol in moderation.A certain level is marked inside the cup.If the user of the cup fills alcohol maximum to that level he can enjoy the drink.If he happens to be a greedy drinker and pours more than the marked level, the cup will spill its entire contents through the bottom.I could not fathom the level of popularity of such a cup in his days but seems to be getting very popular world wide these days.Otherwise this cup might not have got listed even in online sites including Amazon or Flipcart! However it is high time that people in my own state of Kerala should take note of this!!
Courtesy;Google images.
Beautiful island of Samos has also produced few other world known personalities like Epicurus and Aesop.While Epicurus was a philosopher, Aesop, the ancient story teller who is popular to this day, was a slave who got freedom from his master.More about Pythagoras who said"Shortest words yes and no are those which require the most thought" about 2500 years !
If you get a good wife it is fine, if not...... I do not know about the authenticity of a hilarious saying credited to Socrates over which we all chuckle-men little more -" By all means marry.If you get a good wife,you will be happy.If you get a bad one,you will be a philosopher."I am sure that is not the reason why ancient Greece has produced hundreds of renowned philosophers.One of the earliest philosophers ever lived in Greece is none other than Pythagoras.That was in around 500 BC, before Socrates who lived about 100 years after him.
No doubt that as we all know,three most famous Greek philosophers are Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.Interestingly all the three were Athenians-from Athens- and knew each other.But few knows that it was Thales along with Pythagoras who lived earlier to them who influenced to form Greek philosophy to take its western form later as we know. Pythagoras who was a known scientist,musician and philosopher of his time became popular in the world later as a mathematician only.From his island of Samos in Greece he traveled to other few centers of knowledge accessible to him- to Italy, Egypt and Babylon.It is recorded that he interacted with a lot of learned people of his kind to produce his school of thought.
Pythagoras is believed to have been the first person to coin the word -philosopher in the world.It is based on the meaning 'lover of ideas'.Apart from Maths and Science, Pythagoras is believed to have started a sort of secret group or cult with their own beliefs or philosophy.They-both men and women- walked barefoot and had long hair.They were celibates,vegetarians(except eating beans which was a taboo for them!) and believed in reincarnation of life and religious mysticism.
Pythagorean cup..
I am not aware whether Pythagoras used to drink alcohol or not regularly.But his desire to design a cup for the purpose 2500 years back shows that he was aware of the regular problem of those who indulge in that- to keep oneself within the limits.Interestingly he scientifically designed a cup which forces the drinker to consume alcohol in moderation.A certain level is marked inside the cup.If the user of the cup fills alcohol maximum to that level he can enjoy the drink.If he happens to be a greedy drinker and pours more than the marked level, the cup will spill its entire contents through the bottom.I could not fathom the level of popularity of such a cup in his days but seems to be getting very popular world wide these days.Otherwise this cup might not have got listed even in online sites including Amazon or Flipcart! However it is high time that people in my own state of Kerala should take note of this!!
Courtesy;Google images.
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Good narration, Jaisonchettan.
ReplyDeleteClearly ancient Greece have a bad luck of getting hold of bad wifes no wonder we have massive philosophers! That proverb really suits them.
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