Measuring Heaven: Pythagoras & His Influence on Thought and Art in Antiquity and the Middle Ages

Pythagoras is purported to be an important character in the history 
of Druidry, yet it is difficult to find books about his ideas.  Some 
sources and scholars say he committed nothing to writing, while 
others say he wrote many texts, but nothing remains.  Contemporaries 
of his, in the sixth century BCE, such as Empedocles, give a few 
intriguing details, but rather wonderfully over the centuries that 
followed more appear to have been added, until we find full 
biographies written almost a millennium after his death.  Semi 
divine, a legend, it is debatable as to whether we need to know what 
is true, and what is valuable simply as an expression of the 
development and qualities of a hero.

In Measuring Heaven, Joost-Gaugier presents him as an extraordinary 
character.  Convinced the soul was immortal, moving from body to 
body  and between different species, he was consequently a 
vegetarian.  He worshipped Apollo, as the sun, light and knowledge, 
as a single divine force, inspiring monotheistic inclinations in his 
followers.  He spoke of the importance of simplicity, frugality, 
purity, wearing white clothes, and encouraged involvement in the 
political life of a community.  He perceived the universe to be 
constructed of number - the blend of arithmetic and geometry, coming 
together in harmony - and spoke of the importance of music and 
meditation.  His emphasis on silence suggests both secrecy and 
humility, and both have been influential when it comes to his 
legacy.  And so much more ...

His popularity at the time created a myth that grew in breadth and 
potency, his vision becoming fundamentally influential to 
philosophical, Christian and scientific thinking over the millennia 
following his years of life.  It's wonderful to grasp the ideas puts 
forward in this book, of how a single figure and his perspective 
could have such a tremendous impact on human culture.  Even spreading 
out the tales, understanding the legend instead of the man, it is a 
fascinating story.

My problem with the book is that, although Joost-Gaugier provides a 
good amount of information about the sources, in doing so she covers 
such a range of the different aspects of his life and thought that I 
found myself perpetually frustrated with the lack of depth.  She can 
also, I think, be disingenuous in places, but perhaps this is again 
simply because of the lack of detail.  She touches on ideas about 
Gaulish Druids as migrants from Greece, bringing with them 
Pythagorean understanding, which readers can place in their own 
mixture of apparent facts and fantasies.

I would recommend it to folk looking for a first step in exploring 
Pythagoras, but it helps if you have a solid background in not only 
Classical but also Middle Eastern philosophy and history if you are 
to gain more fully from the book.

Emma Restall Orr