THE WIZARDS OF EARLY GREECE.
One of the earliest magicians or soothsayers of which we have record
out of the era of mythology was Tiresias. He lived in the times of
Œdipus and the war of the seven chiefs against Thebes. For having
offended the gods he was visited with blindness, but being repentant,
tradition states they recompensed him for this affliction by endowing
him with the gift of prophecy and the act of divination. He is also
said to have been able to hold communion with the feathered world, and
to have power over the spirits of the dead, whom he could compel to
appear and reply to his inquiries. His incantations and spells were
supposed to be irresistible, and he could foretell future events by
signs from fire, smoke, and other methods of divining.
Abaris, a native of Scythia, was another magician of renown. There is
no exact record of the time in which he lived, but he is represented
by some as having constructed the Palladium which protected Troy from
its enemies for a long time. Other authors declare he was a friend of
Pythagoras, who flourished some 600 years later.
According to Herodotus, he travelled over the world with an arrow,
eating nothing during his journey. By others it is said the arrow was
presented to him by Apollo, and that upon it he rode through the air,
and travelled over lands, seas, mountains, and other inaccessible
places. But from all accounts his repute as a magician and seer is
confirmed. He is said to have foretold earthquakes, allayed storms and
pestilence, cured disease by charms and incantations, and was generally
revered for his power and command over the dwellers in the unseen world.
Pythagoras, one of the most notable magicians in early history, was
born about the year B.C. 586, and lived during the time of Cyrus and
Darius Hystaspes, of Crœsus, of Pisistratus, of Polycrates, and
Amasis King of Egypt. He was renowned not only as a philosopher but as
a leader and politician, and was learned in all branches of science
then known. The early part of his life was spent in Egypt, but he also
travelled in order to gather experience and knowledge until he reached
the age of forty years.
Afterwards he founded a school, where he lectured and instructed
a large number of followers who were attracted by his wisdom and
learning. He divided his pupils into two classes: the neophytes, to
whom were explained the elementary and general principles of his
philosophy, while the advanced were admitted into his entire confidence
and formed a brotherhood, who threw their property into a common stock
and lived together.
During the latter part of his life he is said to have lived in Magna
Græcia, where he carried on his studies and made some of his great
discoveries. He was a profound geometrician, and two great theorems,
one still known as the Pythagorean, are ascribed to him. He propounded
the doctrine that the earth is a planet of spherical form, and the sun
the centre of the planetary system.
His philosophy prescribed and taught a total abstinence from everything
which had animal life, and temperance in all things, together with the
subjection of the appetites of the body. By this strict discipline,
he seems to have obtained almost complete control over the wills and
minds of his followers, from whom he demanded the utmost docility.
Preparatory to entering on his novitiate, the pupil was strictly
examined by the master as to his principles, habits, and intentions.
The tone of his voice, his manner of speaking, his walk, gestures,
and the lines of his face and the expression of his eyes, were all
carefully observed, and only if all these features were satisfactory
was he admitted as a probationer. After this interview the master
withdrew from the sight of the pupil, who could then enter on his
novitiate of three and five, in all eight years, during which time he
was not permitted to look on the master, but only hear him speak from
behind a curtain, and he was enjoined to preserve the strictest silence.
To add to his mystery and authority, Pythagoras is said to have hid
himself during the day from his pupils, and was only visible to them
after the night had come on. He is described as having a most imposing
and majestic appearance, with a grave and awe-inspiring countenance.
When he came forth he appeared in a long garment of the purest white,
with his long beard flowing, and a garland upon his head.
He allowed his followers to believe he was one of the gods, and he is
said to have told Abaris that he resumed human form so that he might
win the confidence of man.
Doubtless, owing to his great attainments and his superiority to
the men of his time, he considered himself more divine than human,
and he claimed to have miraculous endowments. Those who were not of
his followers ascribed the stories related of him to magic, which
probably, like other philosophers, he studied.
Among other stories which tradition has handed down concerning
Pythagoras are the following: He professed to have appeared in
different ages in various human forms—first as Æthalides, the son of
Mercury, and then as Euphorbu, who slew Patroclus at the siege of Troy,
and as other individuals also.
He is said to have tamed a bear by whispering in its ear, and prevailed
on it to feed on vegetables alone. He called also an eagle down from
its flight, causing it to sit on his hand as if quite tame. When Abaris
addressed him as one of the heavenly host, he convinced him that he was
indeed a celestial being by showing him his thigh of gold, which also
he exhibited to sceptical pupils. At another period he absented himself
from his associates in Italy for a year: when he re-appeared he stated
he had been sojourning in the infernal regions, and gave them wonderful
descriptions of the strange things he had seen there.
These and many other fabulous stories are related of this singular man,
which prove him to have been as wily as he was wise.
One curious rule by which he bound his pupils is worth mentioning.
At the end of their novitiate, if it was discovered that their
intellectual faculties were too weak to grapple with the intricacies
of his theories and problems, they were expelled the community; the
double of the property they had contributed to the common stock was
refunded to them; a monument inscribed with their names was placed in
the meeting-place of the community, and they were considered as dead by
the brotherhood.
It is easy to imagine with what feelings these measures would be
regarded by some who were called to submit to them, and so they
eventually proved the cause of the break-up of the Pythagorean school.
Cylon, a man of great wealth of Crotona, conceived a great partiality
for Pythagoras, and became a novice with Perialus, and submitted to
all the severities of the school. They passed through the three years
of probation and five years of silence, and were received into the
familiarity of the master. But after they had delivered their wealth
into the common stock, Pythagoras pronounced them to be deficient in
intellectual power, or for some other reason most probably they were
expelled. A tablet inscribed with their names was set up, and they were
pronounced dead to the school.
Cylon, who was a man of excitable and violent temperament, became
highly incensed at this treatment, and resolved on vengeance.
Collecting a band of followers, which probably included a large number
of rejected students, they surrounded the school of the master and set
it on fire. Forty people are said to have perished in the flames, but
Pythagoras with two of his pupils escaped to Metapontum, where he took
refuge in the Temple of the Muses. The strife fomented by Cylon broke
out afresh, and he was closely besieged in the temple by his enemies.
The rioting continued, and as no provisions could be conveyed to him,
he finally perished with hunger, according to Laertius, after forty
days’ abstinence.
Thus ended Pythagoras, a man of undoubted genius, and in knowledge
much in advance of his time. Although his teachings were mixed up with
considerable artifice and deception, he ranks, as one of the greatest
of the Greek philosophers.
Epimenides was a native of Crete, and probably lived before the time of
Pythagoras. He was credited with marvellous performances from a very
early age, and is said when quite a lad to have retired to a cave and
slept for fifty-seven years. He then returned to his father’s house,
which he found in the possession of a new tenant, and the family
disappeared. At length he came across his brother, who had grown into
an old man, who after some time acknowledged him.
On this story becoming known, he was accounted a favourite of the gods,
and he professed to be endowed with supernatural gifts.
He made it known that he was supplied with food by the nymphs, and that
he was exempt from the usual necessities imposed on the body by Nature.
He boasted that he could separate his soul from his body and recall it
as he thought fit. He professed to have dealings with the unseen world,
and would exorcise evil spirits or work spells. He had great renown as
a seer, and his prophecies were regarded as direct messages from the
gods. But the great act of his life was his delivery of Athens from
a great pestilence after the rebellion of Cylon. The plague, which
had almost decimated the city, could not be stopped, and the Athenian
Senate, after much deliberation, resolved to send for Epimenides,
who was at that time in Crete. A special vessel was placed under the
command of one of the first citizens of the State, who was commissioned
to bring the wise magician.
On his arrival at Athens he at once set to work with solemn rites
and ceremonials. He commanded that a number of black and white sheep
should be led to the Areopagus, then be let loose and allowed to wander
whither they wished. Certain persons were instructed to follow them
and mark the spot where they lay down, on which place the animal was
sacrificed to the local deity. In this manner, it is recorded, the
plague was stayed. According to some writers he also sacrificed human
victims. Although pressed by the Athenian Senate to take a recompense
for his services, Epimenides is said to have refused all gifts,
stipulating only that there should be perpetual peace between the
Athenians and the people of Gnossus, his native city. He died shortly
afterwards, at the reputed age of 157 years.
Empedocles was a distinguished magician, orator, and poet, and was
born in Agrigentum, Sicily. He was a follower of Pythagoras, and
probably received instruction from his successors. He was credited
with miraculous powers, and to have been able to restore the dead to
life. He was skilled in medicine and the use of herbs, and was indeed
a general benefactor to the citizens of his native place, where he was
almost worshipped as a god. Like other philosophers of his time, he was
inordinately vain, but was undoubtedly a man of great intelligence,
and conferred immense benefits on his fellow-creatures. His belief
in the power of magic is shown in the following words he was wont to
address to his students: “By my instructions you shall learn medicines
that are powerful to cure disease and reanimate old age; you shall be
able to calm the savage winds which lay waste the labours of all the
husbandmen, and, when you will, shall send forth the tempest again; you
shall cause the skies to be fair and serene; or, once more, shall draw
down refreshing showers, reanimating the fruits of the earth; nay, you
shall recall the strength of the dead man when he has already become
the victim of Pluto”.
Of himself he said: “I mix with you a god, no longer a mortal, and
am everywhere honoured by you, as is just; crowned with fillets and
fragrant garlands, adorned with which, when I visit populous cities,
I am revered by both men and women, who follow me by ten thousands,
inquiring the road to boundless wealth, seeking the gift of prophecy
and who would learn the marvellous skill to cure all kinds of diseases”.
Of other wizards of early Greece, Herodotus mentions Aristras, a poet
of Proconnesus, who is said to have mysteriously disappeared from
the earth for 340 years, and then appeared again at Metapontum and
commanded the citizens to erect a statue to him. Also Hermotimus, who
was reputed to have the power of separating his soul from his body
at will. But little is known beyond the merest tradition of these
worthies.