Pythagoras

Pythagoras was an ancient Greek scholar and mathematician who at one point had dealings with a Piece of Eden. He was described by Leonardo da Vinci as "a brilliant scholar who discovered many secrets about the heavenly spheres and our cosmos."

Biography

Tetractys

During the sixth century BCE Pythagoras and his protege, Kyros of Zarax, lived in the town of Samos, where they had a villa. During one of his strolls through the town, Pythagoras suddenly rushed into a nearby blacksmith and started hitting anvils with hammers, paying special attention to the different kinds of sound they made. He had Kyros take ten hammers of different sizes back to his villa, and asked the blacksmiths to bring an anvil there as well. They spent their entire day experimenting with the hammers, and Pythagoras made many notes in the sand of his courtyard, barely even touching the food his wife Theano brought him. After a long night of making notes and studying them, he muttered something about the tetractys before he went to sleep.

Pythagoras and Kyros in Samos

The next morning, a gathering of renowned scholars was held at the villa, where Pythagoras explained his theory of "the perfect number" to his fellow scholars. Though many were skeptical about his findings, there were also many who praised him for his discovery.

Croton

A few years after the gathering in the villa, Pythagoras, Kyros and several servants travelled to Croton, a city that was well known for its intelligent citizens. Upon their arrival, they found that they were more than welcome in the city, and everyone was willing to listen to them. Pythagoras started passing on his teachings to the young citizens and both he and Kyros took students under their wing. Pythagoras started teaching an intelligent but arrogant youth named Alcmaeon, while Kyros started training the young athlete Milo.

Not long after that, Pythagoras came across a man beating a dog, and he ordered him to stop because he heard the voice of an old friend in its cries. The entire crowd was amazed by Pythagoras' proof of the immortality of the soul.

Tension

A while after the incident with the dog, Kyros and Damo, Pythagoras' daughter, came across Alcmaeon while he was torturing a dog. Kyros stopped him and explained the incident to his master. Pythagoras immediately decided to banish Alcmaeon from the city and declared he was to be considered dead by the members of his family.

Pythagoras speaking to citizens of Croton

This angered many important people in Croton, and during a banquet in Pythagoras' honor, organized by the Council of Citizens, someone sabotaged the column that was supposed to keep the roof in its place. The roof started falling apart and the debris crushed a servant, though Kyros and Milo were able to keep the roof in place until everyone had escaped. Pythagoras was then escorted back to Milo's house by Kyros and four other bodyguards, but they were ambushed by trained warriors that attempted to take his life. Pythagoras and Kyros managed to escape and went to Milo's house, where they found a secret passage out of Croton while Milo distracted the angry mob outside.

The desert

Many years after that, Pythagoras and Kyros explored a vast desert. They were wandering aimlessly and almost without water when they suddenly saw someone standing on a hill. When they had made their way to him, he introduced himself as Hermes Trismegistus. The fatigue fell away from Pythagoras as he was judged by Hermes and his staff. After a while, the staff deemed him worthy and his protege Kyros lost consciousness.

Pythagoras tended to Kyros until he woke up, and revealed he had been given the staff and his thigh had turned into gold. He then told his friend their journey was over and that Kyros had served him well.

Many years later, Pythagoras told Kyros where he could find the Apple, which would help him win the race against the famously fleet-footed princess of Arcadia, Atalanta.

Legacy

Following his death, his followers – the Pythagoreans – constructed a temple in his name. It was located in catacombs beneath the city of Rome, and was guarded with a number of puzzle chambers.

In 1506, the Assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze and his friend Leonardo da Vinci visited this temple and discovered a vault where they found information they could not understand (GPS coordinates), from which Ezio deduced that the information was probably not meant for them.

In 1527, Giovanni Borgia and Maria Amiel visited the vault, where Giovanni underwent some kind of transformation as Consus, the Erudite God, spoke through him.

Personality

Pythagoras was extremely knowledgeable and would often pass his teachings on to other scholars, which made him a respected man in his society. Even though he was a strict and extremely disciplined man, consistently staying faithful to his beliefs and ordering his followers to follow his way of living, he had a lot of followers who respected and admired him.

Appearance

Pythagoras, as a scholar, was not extremely well-built. He was of normal size and was not particularly muscular. During most of his life, he had a beard, which turned grey as he grew older. After the meeting with Hermes, Pythagoras was given a golden thigh, and his posture changed to that of a younger man than he actually was.