A Portrait of Pythagoras

Abstract

The fairly numerous ideal portraits of Homer and the Sages which have come down to us, and the yet more numerous headless herms whose inscriptions bear witness to the frequency of such works in antiquity, naturally suggest that others may exist in our museums representing the more famous rulers and philosophers of the sixtli century, among whom the most interesting and important is Pythagoras. From the Renaissance onwards, archæologists have been on the alert to discover a portrait with some claim to represent him, and no less than seven identifications have been at various times proposed. None, however, has found anything like universal acceptance, in spite of the fact that the numismatic evidence is fuller and more trustworthy than usual. A series of Samian coins show the philosopher either seated or standing before a celestial globe set on a pillar. He is richly draped and is bearded, while a band, whose exact nature is difficult to determine, usually runs round his head. The figures are, however, merely generalized and conventional like those of other poets and sages on the coin types figured by Bernoulli. The Paris contorniate must be reserved for fuller treatment, as a discussion of the literary evidence is important for its right understanding.