Page:Early Greek philosophy by John Burnet, 3rd edition, 1920.djvu/110

96 of two kinds, and have different sources. Some of them, derived from Aristoxenos, and for the most part preserved by Iamblichos, are mere precepts of morality. They do not pretend to go back to Pythagoras himself; they are only the sayings which the last generation of "Mathematicians" heard from their predecessors. The second class is of a different nature, and consists of rules called Akousmata, which points to their being the property of the sect which had faithfully preserved the old customs. Later writers interpret them as "symbols" of moral truth; but it does not require a practised eye to see that they are genuine taboos. I give a few examples to show what the Pythagorean rule was really like.

It would be easy to multiply proofs of the close connexion between Pythagoreanism and primitive modes of thought, but what has been said is sufficient for our purpose.