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The Golden Verses of Pythagoras · 42 of 122 · tr. Florence M. Firth

Section 13 (part 9)

80 Ὅν τινα τιμήσωσι Διὸς κοῦραι μεγάλοιο γεινόμενόν τε ἴδωσι διοτρεφέων βασιλήων, τῷ μὲν ἐπὶ γλώσσῃ γλυκερὴν χείουσιν ἐέρσην, τοῦ δ᾽ ἔπε᾽ ἐκ στόματος ῥεῖ μείλιχα· οἱ δέ τε λαοὶ πάντες ἐς αὐτὸν ὁρῶσι διακρίνοντα θέμιστας 85 ἰθείῃσι δίκῃσιν· ὃ δ᾽ ἀσφαλέως ἀγορεύων αἶψά κε καὶ μέγα νεῖκος ἐπισταμένως κατέπαυσεν· τοὔνεκα γὰρ βασιλῆες ἐχέφρονες, οὕνεκα λαοῖς βλαπτομένοις ἀγορῆφι μετάτροπα ἔργα τελεῦσι ῥηιδίως, μαλακοῖσι παραιφάμενοι ἐπέεσσιν. 90 Ἐρχόμενον δ᾽ ἀν᾽ ἀγῶνα θεὸν ὣς ἱλάσκονται αἰδοῖ μειλιχίῃ, μετὰ δὲ πρέπει ἀγρομένοισιν· τοίη Μουσάων ἱερὴ δόσις ἀνθρώποισιν.
Themes
◆Anthropomorphismtheology

Attributing human characteristics, emotions, or form to the divine; embodied divine imagery.

The passage depicts Zeus as a father and the Muses as daughters who attend human kings, attributing familial and social roles to deities.

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◆Numerical Mysticismtheology

Numbers, proportions, and mathematical relationships as the underlying structure of divine reality.

The text explicitly enumerates the nine Muses, reflecting the Pythagorean emphasis on numerical significance in divine structures.

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◇Hidden Sayingssoteriology

Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.

[auto] The text describes symbols that obscurely signify deeper truths which are not proper to divulge openly.

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◇Love Of Neighbourethics

Active compassionate care for others as a central spiritual obligation or expression of divine love.

[auto] The passage explicitly exhorts philanthropy, sympathy, and mutual love as central duties for rational animals.

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◇Opposites Transcendedanthropology

The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.

[auto] Philosophy is defined by remaining unpained by others' goods and unrejoicing in their evils, transcending emotional duality.

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◇Paradox As Teachingethics

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

[auto] The instruction 'Eat not the brain' serves as a symbolic paradox requiring intellectual interpretation rather than literal adherence.

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◇Unity Of Beingtheology

The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.

[auto] It speaks of the union and consent of the universe and the natural alliance of all men subject to common fortune.

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Related passages · 4 parallels
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 30
“Section 4 4. But this science, this Dialectic essential to all the three classes alike, what, in sum, is it? It is the Method, or Discipline, that brings with it the power of pronouncing with final truth upon the nature and relation of thin…”
Both passages emphasize the pursuit of higher knowledge and understanding through philosophical inquiry. Passage A discusses Dialectic as a method to discern the nature and relation of things, while Passage B outlines symbolic exhortations to engage in philosophy and venerate intellectual contemplation.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 392 (part 1)
“Section 8 8. E. (13) We come to the doctrine of the Entelechy, and must enquire how it is applied to soul. It is thought that in the Conjoint of body and soul the soul holds the rank of Form to the Matter which here is the ensouled body-…”
Both passages emphasize the importance of intellectual and philosophical pursuits over physical or sensory experiences. They both advocate for the separation of higher, rational thought from bodily influences and the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom through intellectual means.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 688
“Section 6 6. How then did we come to place freedom in the will when we made out free action to be that produced- or as we also indicated, suppressed- at the dictate of will? If what we have been saying is true and our former statement is co…”
Both passages emphasize the importance of intellectual and philosophical contemplation, and the need to rise above base or corporeal concerns. They both advocate for a higher, more pure form of understanding and wisdom.
◆neoplatonism|Select Works of Plotinus|Select Works, Section 690
“Section 8 8. But it is not, in our view, as an attribute that this freedom is present in the First. In the light of free acts, from which we eliminate the contraries, we recognise There self-determination, self-directed and, failing more su…”
Both passages emphasize the importance of intellectual and philosophical pursuits, advocating for the veneration of wisdom and the rejection of base or irrational tendencies. They share a common theme of elevating the mind and intellect above physical or sensory concerns.