He was a philosopher, a mathematician, and had some unique views on diet and religion.

You probably know him best for the mathematical theorem that bears his name.

However, if you asked anyone 2,600 years ago, they might have known him for something entirely different.

Learn more about Pythagoras, his ideas, and the cult that he led on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. The Pythagorean theorem is something that everyone learns in school. I'm sure that everyone

listening right now has at least heard of it and probably knows what it is and I'm

also guessing that most people probably don't know much about Pythagoras

beyond the fact that he was some ancient Greek dude who did math.

However, there is a whole lot more to Pythagoras than just triangles.

Pythagoras was born sometime around the year 570 BC in Greece.

There is little that we know about the early life of Pythagoras

because none of his original writings have survived,

nor have any contemporary writings about him.

The stories that do exist have him being born in the

island of Samos in the Aegean. There are stories about Pythagoras' early life

which were written after the fact but these were mostly tales to illustrate a

point and the tales which were told about him

either make him out to be a genius or a crackpot. He also supposedly was

educated outside of Greece. He may have received his education in some combination of

Egypt, Mesopotamia, or the Levant.

He eventually returned to Samos and started a school which became known as the Semicycle.

His teaching ability became legendary and supposedly intellectuals from all over Greece came to

hear him lecture. The real story of Pythagoras starts when he was about 40 years old

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