create or solve mathematical problems. Rather Pythagoras was interested in teaching the principles of mathematics, the concept of number, and the concept of a triangle or other figure.” The mathematikoi were taught by Pythagoras himself and obeyed strict rules. The beliefs that Pythagoras held were:(1) that at its deepest level, reality is mathematical in nature,(2) that philosophy can be used for spiritual purification,(3) that the soul can rise to union with the divine,(4) that certain symbols have a mystical significance, and(5) that all brothers of the order should observe strict loyalty and secrecy. The outer circle of the Society was known as the akousmatics and they lived in their own houses, only coming to the Society during the day. They were allowed their own possessions and were not required to be vegetarians. “Pythagoras studied properties of numbers, which is familiar to mathematicians today, such as even and odd numbers, triangular numbers, perfect numbers etc. However to Pythagoras numbers had personalities, masculine or feminine, perfect or incomplete, beautiful or ugly.” (www.excite.com) Of course today we pretty much remember Pythagoras for his famous theorem, a2 + b2 = c2....
