Telauges (; fl. c. 500 BC) was a Samian Pythagorean philosopher and, according to tradition, the son of

Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos (; BC) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher, polymath, and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His political and religious teachings were well known in Magna Graecia and influenced the philosophies of P ...

and Theano. Little is known about his life and works other than a scattering of remarks from much later writers.

Life

Little is known about the life of Telauges. According to tradition, he was the son of

and Theano.Diogenes Laërtius, viii. 43

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 ...

claims that Pythagoras died when Telauges was very young, and that Telauges eventually married Bitale the daughter of Damo, his sister.Iamblichus, ''Life of Pythagoras'', 146 It was said that Telauges was a teacher of

Empedocles Empedocles (; ; , 444–443 BC) was a Ancient Greece, Greek pre-Socratic philosopher and a native citizen of Akragas, a Greek city in Sicily. Empedocles' philosophy is known best for originating the Cosmogony, cosmogonic theory of the four cla ...

, perhaps in an attempt to link Empedocles to Pythagoras.

Works

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 ...

says that Telauges wrote nothing, but then makes use of a supposed letter from Telauges to

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 ...

for some information concerning Empedocles. Iamblichus claims that a work of Pythagoras concerning the gods was said by some to have been composed by Telauges, using the notes which Pythagoras bequeathed to Damo. The

Suda The ''Suda'' or ''Souda'' (; ; ) is a large 10th-century Byzantine Empire, Byzantine encyclopedia of the History of the Mediterranean region, ancient Mediterranean world, formerly attributed to an author called Soudas () or Souidas (). It is an ...

claims that Telauges wrote four books on the

tetractys The tetractys (), or tetrad, or the tetractys of the decad is a triangular number, triangular figure consisting of ten points arranged in four rows: one, two, three, and four points in each row, which is the geometrical representation of the fourt ...

Marcus Aurelius Marcus Aurelius Antoninus ( ; ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 and a Stoicism, Stoic philosopher. He was a member of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty, the last of the rulers later known as the Five Good Emperors ...

, in his ''

Meditations ''Meditations'' () is a series of personal writings by Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor from 161–180 AD, recording his private notes to himself and ideas on Stoic philosophy. Composition Marcus Aurelius wrote the 12 books of the ''Meditations'' i ...

'', contrasts Telauges with

Socrates Socrates (; ; – 399 BC) was a Ancient Greek philosophy, Greek philosopher from Classical Athens, Athens who is credited as the founder of Western philosophy and as among the first moral philosophers of the Ethics, ethical tradition ...

.Marcus Aurelius, ''Meditations'', vii. 66

References

{{AncientGreece-philosopher-stub 6th-century BC Greek philosophers 5th-century BC Greek philosophers Pythagoreans of Magna Graecia