Submitted by Rifkin the Historian on
The Righthand Way can be found in the following poem: The Pythagorean Y
The Pythagoric Letter two ways spread,
Shows the two paths in which Man’s life is led
The right hand track to sacred Virtue tends,
Though steep and rough at first, in rest it ends; The other broad and smooth, but from its Crown
On the rocks the Traveller is tumbled down.
He who to Virtue by harsh toils aspires, Subduing pains, worth and renown requires:
But who seeks slothful luxury, and flies, The labor of great acts, dishonor’d dies.
- Maximinus Pythagoras was born in the sixth century BC to an engraver of fine gems. His father ensured his education by having him study under Creophilus and Pherecydes. It was asserted that young Pythagoras was the spawn of a divinity due to his engaging aspect and manner of speaking. Thales, one of the seven wise men of antiquity, encouraged him to travel to Egypt, specifically to the Priests of Memphis and Zeus.
After Pythagoras returned, his over 218 followers and students over many centuries wrote very little that survived.