Aeschylus a Pythagorean?

May 18, 2008 6:36 PM

Was Aeschylus a Pythagorean?

ClassicsFilter: I have read on the web that Cicero writes that Aeschylus was a Pythagorean.
Is this so? If so, in which work is Cicero saying this? Is there more evidence in other places?
Many thanks,
C

posted by catherinem to religion & philosophy (3 comments total)

The Cicero quote is from the Tusculan Disputations, book II, section X. (Scroll to page 73 as indicated on the left margin.)

Let us see what Æschylus says, who was not only a poet but a Pythagorean philosopher also, for that is the account which you have received of him; how doth he make Prometheus bear the pain he suffered for the Lemnian theft, when he clandestinely stole away the celestial fire, and bestowed it on men, and was severely punished by Jupiter for the theft. Fastened to Mount Caucasus, he speaks thus...
posted by Pater Aletheias at 7:03 PM on May 18, 2008

According to this book, "If Aeschylus was a Pythagorean, tradition has, except for this remark of Cicero's, been silent on the point."
posted by Pater Aletheias at 7:07 PM on May 18, 2008

Many, many thanks, this is incredibly helpful :-) !
posted by catherinem at 5:05 PM on May 21, 2008