The golden verses of PythagorasFabre d'Olivet, Antoine
Religion
The golden verses of Pythagoras
Fabre d'Olivet, Antoine
Poetry -- History and criticism; Pythagoras and Pythagorean school
Pythagoras considered the Universe as an animated All, whose members
were the divine Intelligences, each ranked according to its
perfections, in its proper sphere.[248] He it was who first designated
this All, by the Greek word _Kosmos_, in order to express the beauty,
order, and regularity which reigned there[249]; the Latins translated
this word by _Mundus_, from which has come the French word _monde_. It
is from Unity considered as principle of the world, that the name
Universe which we give to it is derived. Pythagoras establishes Unity
as the principle of all things and said that from this Unity sprang an
infinite Duality.[250] The essence of this Unity, and the manner in
which the Duality that emanated from it was finally brought back
again, were the most profound mysteries of his doctrine; the subject
sacred to the faith of his disciples and the fundamental points which
were forbidden them to reveal. Their explanation was never made in
writing; those who appeared worthy of learning them were content to be
taught them by word of mouth.[251] When one was forced, by the
concatenation of ideas, to mention them in the books of the sect,
symbols and ciphers were used, and the language of Numbers employed;
and these books, all obscure as they were, were still concealed with
the greatest care; by all manner of means they were guarded against
falling into profane hands.[252] I cannot enter into the discussion of
the famous symbol of Pythagoras, _one_ and _two_, without exceeding
very much the limits that I have set down in these examinations[253];
let it suffice for me to say, that as he designated God by 1, and
Matter by 2, he expressed the Universe by the number 12, which results
in the union of the other two. This number is formed by the
multiplication of 3 by 4: that is to say, that this philosopher
conceived the Universal world as composed of three particular worlds,
which, being linked one with the other by means of the four elementary
modifications, were developed in twelve concentric spheres.[254] The
ineffable Being which filled these twelve spheres without being
understood by any one, was God. Pythagoras gave to It, truth for soul
and light for body.[255] The Intelligence which peopled the three
worlds were, firstly, the immortal gods properly so-called; secondly,
the glorified heroes; thirdly, the terrestial demons. The immortal
gods, direct emanations of the uncreated Being and manifestation of
Its infinite faculties, were thus named because they could not depart
from the divine life――that is, they could never fall away from their
Father into oblivion, wandering in the darkness of ignorance and of
impiety; whereas the souls of men, which produced, according to their
degree of purity, glorified heroes and terrestrial demons, were able
to depart sometimes from the divine life by voluntary drawing away
from God; because the death of the intellectual essence, according to
Pythagoras and imitated in this by Plato, was only ignorance and
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