Eurytus (; ; fl. 400 BC) was an eminent

Pythagorean Pythagorean, meaning of or pertaining to the ancient Ionian mathematician, philosopher, and music theorist Pythagoras, may refer to: Philosophy * Pythagoreanism, the esoteric and metaphysical beliefs purported to have been held by Pythagoras * Ne ...

philosopher from

Magna Graecia Magna Graecia refers to the Greek-speaking areas of southern Italy, encompassing the modern Regions of Italy, Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania, and Sicily. These regions were Greek colonisation, extensively settled by G ...

who

Iamblichus Iamblichus ( ; ; ; ) was a Neoplatonist philosopher who determined a direction later taken by Neoplatonism. Iamblichus was also the biographer of the Greek mystic, philosopher, and mathematician Pythagoras. In addition to his philosophical co ...

in one passage describes as a native of Croton, while in another, he enumerates him among the Tarentine Pythagoreans.

Biography

Eurytus was a disciple of

Philolaus Philolaus (; , ''Philólaos''; ) was a Greek Pythagorean and pre-Socratic philosopher. He was born in a Greek colony in Italy and migrated to Greece. Philolaus has been called one of three most prominent figures in the Pythagorean tradition and ...

, and

Diogenes Laërtius Diogenes Laërtius ( ; , ; ) was a biographer of the Greek philosophers. Little is definitively known about his life, but his surviving book ''Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers'' is a principal source for the history of ancient Greek ph ...

mentions him among the teachers of

Plato Plato ( ; Greek language, Greek: , ; born BC, died 348/347 BC) was an ancient Greek philosopher of the Classical Greece, Classical period who is considered a foundational thinker in Western philosophy and an innovator of the writte ...

, though this statement is very doubtful. It is uncertain whether Eurytus was the author of any work, unless we suppose that the fragment in

Stobaeus Joannes Stobaeus (; ; 5th-century AD), from Stobi in Macedonia (Roman province), Macedonia, was the compiler of a valuable series of extracts from Greek authors. The work was originally divided into two volumes containing two books each. The tw ...

, which is there ascribed to one Eurytus, belongs to this Eurytus. Through a dubious commentary to

Aristotle Aristotle (; 384–322 BC) was an Ancient Greek philosophy, Ancient Greek philosopher and polymath. His writings cover a broad range of subjects spanning the natural sciences, philosophy, linguistics, economics, politics, psychology, a ...

's ''

Metaphysics Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy that examines the basic structure of reality. It is traditionally seen as the study of mind-independent features of the world, but some theorists view it as an inquiry into the conceptual framework of ...

'' a caricatural image of Eurytus has gained wide currency. A mediaeval writer confused with

Alexander of Aphrodisias Alexander of Aphrodisias (; AD) was a Peripatetic school, Peripatetic philosopher and the most celebrated of the Ancient Greek Commentaries on Aristotle, commentators on the writings of Aristotle. He was a native of Aphrodisias in Caria and liv ...

presented Eurytos as a kind of mosaic-setter who delineated various shapes with some definite number of pebbles.

Reviel Netz Reviel Netz (Hebrew: רויאל נץ; born January 2, 1968) is an Israeli scholar of the history of pre-modern mathematics, who is currently a professor of classics and of philosophy at Stanford University. Life and work Netz was born January 2 ...

,''The problem of Pythagorean mathematics'' in ''A History of Pythagoreanism'', ed C. Huffman, Cambridge UP, 2014: " Pseudo-Alexander, writing not earlier than late antiquity and probably in Byzantium, tried to imagine Eurytus’ procedure; he ended up with Eurytus the mosaicist...(p.175)"

forcefully commented that "pseudo-Alexander’s picture of Eurytus the mosaicist is a non-starter for it is evidently idiotic"and he noted that "while

Theophrastus Theophrastus (; ; c. 371 – c. 287 BC) was an ancient Greek Philosophy, philosopher and Natural history, naturalist. A native of Eresos in Lesbos, he was Aristotle's close colleague and successor as head of the Lyceum (classical), Lyceum, the ...

and Aristotle both consider Eurytus’ results patently false, nothing suggests they consider his procedure silly". Taking in account specific mathematical usage he suggested an emended translation of the original passage from Aristotle's work (Metaphysics 1092b9-13): According to the historian's from the ''Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy'', ''Philolaus'' and ''Eurytus'' are identified by

Aristoxenus Aristoxenus of Tarentum (; born 375, fl. 335 BC) was a Ancient Greece, Greek Peripatetic school, Peripatetic philosopher, and a pupil of Aristotle. Most of his writings, which dealt with philosophy, ethics and music, have been lost, but one musi ...

as teachers of the last generation of

Pythagoreans Pythagoreanism originated in the 6th century BC, based on and around the teachings and beliefs held by Pythagoras and his followers, the Pythagoreans. Pythagoras established the first Pythagorean community in the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek co ...

(D. L. VIII 46). An Echecrates is mentioned by ''Aristoxenus'' as a student of ''

'' and ''Eurytus''. (p. 166)

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eurytus Ancient Greek metaphysicians Pythagoreans of Magna Graecia Ancient Crotonians 4th-century BC Greek philosophers 4th-century BC deaths Year of birth unknown