Despite living centuries later, Pythagoras, the ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician famously known for the Pythagorean theorem, is said, according to numerous ancient sources, to have fought in the Trojan War. These accounts claim that he was the reincarnation of Euphorbus, a Trojan hero who died in the war’s final year.
The legend of Pythagoras’ many lives
The idea that Pythagoras once fought in the Trojan War is fundamentally rooted in the idea of reincarnation. Ancient authors asserted that Pythagoras himself had claimed to be Euphorbus, a Trojan War hero. Numerous ancient writers referred to this claim over the centuries. Perhaps the most detailed account comes from Diogenes Laërtius, a third-century AD historian, who wrote:
“He was first Aethalides, then Euphorbus, then Hermotimus, and then Pyrrhus. But when Pyrrhus died, he became Pythagoras, and still remembered all the facts mentioned.”
According to Diogenes, this account originates with the 4th-century BC historian Heraclides Ponticus, who described Pythagoras’ own claims. Whether the legend truly dates back to Pythagoras’ lifetime is uncertain, but it is attested at least as far back as the fourth century BC.
Pythagoras’ first life before the Trojan War
According to this legend, Pythagoras’s first life was not the one in which he fought at Troy. Rather, his first human life was sometime shortly before the Trojan War. Diogenes explained the following:
“This is what Heraclides of Pontus tells us he used to say about himself: that he had once been Aethalides and was accounted to be Hermes’ son, and Hermes told him he might choose any gift he liked except immortality; so he asked to retain through life and through death a memory of his experiences. Hence in life he could recall everything, and when he died he still kept the same memories.”
In other words, Pythagoras’ first human life was allegedly as Aethalides, son of Hermes. He was an Argonaut who accompanied Jason to retrieve the famous Golden Fleece. Legend has it that Hermes offered Aethalides any gift he desired except immortality.
Aethalides requested the ability to remember everything, even after death. According to the legend, this is how Pythagoras was able to recall all his past lives.
Pythagoras as Euphorbus in the Trojan War
It was after his life as Aethalides that Pythagoras is said to have fought in the Trojan War as Euphorbus. Diogenes explained:
“Afterwards in course of time his soul entered into Euphorbus and he was wounded by Menelaus. Now Euphorbus used to say that he had once been Aethalides and obtained this gift from Hermes.”
Euphorbus appears in the Iliad, written by Homer in the seventh century BC as an account of the Trojan War’s final year. He is a fairly minor character, with his main role being to wound Patroclus before Hector of Troy killed him.
Shortly afterward, Euphorbus was killed by Menelaus of Sparta in the ensuing fight over Patroclus’ body. The armor of the slain Euphorbus eventually came into Greek hands and was moved to a sanctuary.
There are varying accounts regarding where the armor was ultimately placed. According to Heraclides’ narrative (which appears to be the earliest), Euphorbus’s armor was taken to the Temple of Apollo at Didyma.
Hermotimus of Clazomenae until Pythagoras
Continuing Heraclides’ account, Diogenes explained:
“When Euphorbus died, his soul passed into Hermotimus, and he also, wishing to authenticate the story, went up to the temple of Apollo at Branchidae, where he identified the shield which Menelaus, on his voyage home from Troy, had dedicated to Apollo, so he said: the shield being now so rotten through and through that the ivory facing only was left.”
The Hermotimus mentioned here is Hermotimus of Clazomenae, a semi-legendary philosopher who lived in the seventh century BC. According to this legend, he recalled his previous life as Euphorbus and identified had once been his shield at the Temple of Apollo at Didyma.
After this, Diogenes stated that Hermotimus was reincarnated as Pyrrhus, a fisherman from Delos. Nothing more is known about him. Pyrrhus, in turn, died and was then reborn as Pythagoras.
Thus, according to legend, Pythagoras had previously lived as an Argonaut, a hero in the Trojan War, a philosopher, and a fisherman before finally becoming the renowned polymath of Greek history.
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