Notes

Pythagoras


Pythagoras lived circa 570 BC and studied many core aspects of magic, such as arithmancy, herbology, and divination, as well as non-magical topics such as ethics. He even spent some time amongst the ancient Egyptians studying the practices and beliefs of Heka. He was also a Parselmouth - one of the very few confirmed in this period.

Pythagoras was also quite famous for his apparent ability to apparate around the globe - an incredible feat for the time. He was also famous for his discovery of what we now call the Pythagorean Theorem, which he stumbled upon as part of his work in arithmancy.

Another interesting part of Pythagoras’ life was his development of a school in Croton, Italy during the latter part of his life. This school was, at least from the outside, devoted to law and philosophy - two things that were dear to Pythagoras. Current magical scholars now believe that Pythagoras may have actually started a small, specialized magical school that taught magical law and philosophy, as well as continued his work in arithmancy and possibly divination. The school no longer exists today, and as such it is impossible to verify the facts. If the school was indeed magical in nature, it would be one of the very earliest magical schools on record. In the end, no authentic writings of Pythagoras have survived, and almost nothing is known for certain about his life. The earliest sources on Pythagoras's life are brief, ambiguous, and often satirical.