9 h 2 minAudiobook13 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at cost
Audiobook edition · 9 h 2 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if philosophy asks you to change not just your mind, but your whole way of life?
In Iamblichus' Life of Pythagoras, a teacher becomes the centre of a demanding way of living. Drawing on older writers and school tradition, Iamblichus traces Pythagoras from his childhood on Samos through his studies with Pherecydes, Thales and Anaximander to his teaching in southern Italy.
Writing some eight hundred years after Pythagoras, Iamblichus offers more than a life story. His portrait gathers rules for daily conduct, accounts of friendship and stories of strange powers. It shows how later ancient readers remember the sage, and how philosophy becomes, for Iamblichus, a discipline of the soul.
What you’ll discover
- A life of learning Follow Iamblichus' account of a thinker shaped by travel, study and encounters with other teachers.
- A city meets Pythagoras Discover how Iamblichus presents the teacher's arrival in Croton as an event for the whole city.
- Silence before belonging Enter an account of a community where candidates face careful examination and demanding rules.
- Number, music and harmony Explore a tradition that connects mathematics and music with the care of the soul.
- Virtue in daily practice See wisdom, courage, self-control and justice take shape in Iamblichus' stories of Pythagorean life.
Who will love it
This is for readers who love ancient philosophy, the roots of mathematics and music, mystery schools, and the legends around the first man to call himself a lover of wisdom.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- An oracle foretells the birth of Pythagoras
- He studies for decades in Egypt and Babylon
- He gathers disciples at Crotona in Italy
- His speeches reform the people of Crotona
- Music heals the soul and reveals harmony
- Admission to the school is strict
- Symbols, wonders and the question of divinity
- Justice, self-control and courage in action
- The plot against the school and its successors
- Later fragments show how the ideas lasted
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Iamblichus' Life of Pythagoras
by Iamblichus · 300
A young man leaves a holy mountain and boards a ship, where sailors planning to sell him come to honor him.
Challenging5–10 hours to readEnglish
Excellent
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In short
Picture a young man walking down Mount Carmel, never looking back, and asking some sailors one question: are you bound for Egypt? They had planned to sell him as a slave.
Iamblichus' Life of Pythagoras at a glance
- Reading time
- About 4 h 50 min3 h 50 min fast, 5 h 45 min slow
- Length
- 69,100 words
- Library level
- Challenging long sentences, a rich vocabulary
- First published
- about AD 300by Iamblichus
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
An oracle foretells the birth of Pythagoras
Iamblichus opens by calling on the gods, because he believes the philosophy of Pythagoras came from them. The island of Samos is the homeland, and the parents are Mnesarchus and Pythais.
Mnesarchus once went to Delphi and asked the god about his voyage to Syria. The oracle answered more than he asked. It said his wife was already with child and would bear a son who would surpass all others in beauty and wisdom and would help humankind. Mnesarchus named the boy Pythagoras, the one announced by the Pythian Apollo. Iamblichus rejects the idea that the god fathered him, but he insists the soul of Pythagoras came from the realm of Apollo.
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- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas of the whole book in about 13 minutes. A good first look, or a refresher.
Details
- First published
- 300
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 5 h 50 min
- Level
- Challenging
Cite this edition
Iamblichus. Iamblichus' Life of Pythagoras. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/iamblichus-life-of-pythagoras.
Iamblichus. (2026). Iamblichus' life of Pythagoras. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/iamblichus-life-of-pythagoras (Original work published ca. 300)
Iamblichus. Iamblichus' Life of Pythagoras. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/iamblichus-life-of-pythagoras.
@book{iamblichus2026iamblichus,
author = {Iamblichus},
title = {Iamblichus' Life of Pythagoras},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/iamblichus-life-of-pythagoras},
note = {First published ca. 300}
}
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What is Iamblichus' Life of Pythagoras about?
It tells the life of the philosopher Pythagoras, from his birth in Sidon and his years in Egypt and Babylon to his school at Crotona. It also describes the rules, music, virtues and friendships of his followers.
Who was Pythagoras according to Iamblichus?
Iamblichus presents him as a teacher whose soul came from the realm of Apollo. He is the first to call himself a philosopher, a student of many nations, and a lawgiver whose disciples reformed cities.
What is the tetractys in the Pythagorean oath?
The tetractys is the set of the first four numbers, one, two, three and four, which add up to ten. The Pythagoreans held that it contains all musical ratios and sworn oaths honored its discoverer.
The author
Iamblichus
245–325 · Syrian Neoplatonist philosopher
Iamblichus was a Neoplatonist philosopher who lived in Syria from about 245 to about 325. He wrote in Greek. His works include a life of Pythagoras and writings on philosophy, mathematics, and religious practices. He studied with the philosopher Porphyry and later taught students in Syria.
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