Part 2 - AMORC

own homes, and came to the school during the day.Both groups took lessons in the Homakoeion, a largecommon auditorium, where Pythagoras conductedhis teaching while seated behind a curtain or vela(whence the English “veil”).The Hearers were not allowed to see him.It was thought that the sight of the master woulddistract too much from his words. The Studentshowever, sat on the same side of the curtain asPythagoras, and were initiated further into themysteries that their master had learned from thepriests of the East. The Students were not giventhese truths freely and had to prove to Pythagorasthat they had an uprightness and beauty ofcharacter, and that they could keep secret thetruths revealed to them. Thus they were obligedto take vows of silence, usually lasting five years,before they would even be considered for furtherentry into the mysteries. As his teachings spread,Pythagorean Synedria or meeting places were builtin most cities of Magna Graecia.The Later YearsPythagoras’s community at Krotonwas not unaffected by political eventsdespite his desire to stay out of politics.Pythagoras went to Delos, also sacred toApollo, in 513 BCE to nurse his old teacherPherekydes who was dying. He remainedthere for a few months until the death ofhis friend and teacher and then returnedto Kroton which in 510 BCE attackedand defeated its neighbour the elegantand sophisticated Sybaris and there aresuggestions that the Pythagoreans becameinvolved in the dispute.Then around 508 BCE thePythagorean community at Krotonwas attacked by Kylon, a noble fromKroton itself, who seems to have been theKrotoniate governor of Sybaris and whohad applied to join the Pythagoreans, buthad been refused admittance because ofhis character defects. He gathered aroundhimself some disaffected democratsand others who resented the power andinfluence of the Pythagorean community.The members of the Pythagoreancommunity were temporarily expelledand Pythagoras, his wife and childrenescaped to the city of Metapontum, wheremost authors say he died, some claimingthat, in sorrow, he committed suicide by starvationbecause of the attack on his community. Some yearsafter his death, the Pythagoreans were allowed toreturn to Kroton and rebuild their school.Amongst these was one in things sublimest skilled,His mind with all the wealth of learning filled.Whatever sages did invent, he sought;And whilst his thoughts were on this work intent,All things existent, easily he viewed,Through ten or twenty ages making search.-- Empedocles.Bibliography:Divine Harmony by John Strohmeier & Peter Westbrook,ISBN: 0-9653774-5-8.On The Pythagorean Life by Iamblichus. ISBN: 0-85323-326-8.Pythagoras & The Pythagoreans by Charles Kahn. ISBN: 0-87220-575-4.Rosa Croce magazine, No.30, Winter 2007.The Greek Philosophers by William Guthrie. ISBN: 0-4150-4025-9The Pythagorean Sourcebook & Library by Kenneth Guthrie. ISBN:0-933999-51-8.The Western Greeks by T J Dunbabin. ISBN: 0-19-814274-9.Pythagoras conducted his teaching while seated behind a curtain or vela(whence the English “veil”). The Hearers were not allowed to see him. Itwas thought that the sight of the master would distract too much from hiswords. (Detail from the School of Athens by Sanzio Raffaello 1483-1520)40The Rosicrucian Beacon -- June 2008