Pythagorean Serum
Extract from The Vegetable Passion by Janet Barkas, © 1975 (now out of print):
"Wretches, utter wretches, keep your hands from beans!" wrote Empedocles, who flourished around 440 B.P. The noted philosopher, who advocated that there were four roots to all things - fire, air, earth, and water - and who discovered air as a separate substance, practiced vegetarianism and followed the principles of Orphism and Pythagoreanism. Born in the Greek city of Akragas, in Sicily, he founded the Sicilian school of medicine. Empedocles also advised avoiding marriage and procreation, regarding celibacy as a fundamental part of the philosophic life. Like many other Greek philosophers, his life is surrounded in legend: it is said that he controlled the wind and met his death by jumping into the crater of Etna to prove he was a god.
Socrates is known only through the writings of his pupils Xenophon and Plato, and a caricaturization by Aristophanes in The Clouds. Although Socrates and Plato are usually cousidered vegetarians, there is little supporting evidence for this view. Rather, they endorsed the simple life and a "natural" diet as the logical components of the ideal state. Temperance, not vegetananism, is a consistent theme in The Republic. Socrates condemns drinking; he advocates simple food, and an equal education for women, since if dogs do not differentiate between the sexes, why should men?
Antistenes, a disciple of Socrates, lived within an aristocratic circle for most of his life. However, right after the death of Socrates he gave up his excessive ways and became one of the working people; he also adopted a simple vegetarian diet. Perhaps the tragic death of his philosophical mentor prompted the change? Or the defeat of Atheus? Or "male menopause"? Whatever the reason, he advocated a return to nature where neither marriage, established religion, slavery, or government were necessary.
His pupil, Diogenes, was even more of an ascetic than Antistenes. The name "cynic" is ascribed to the school that Diogenes founded because the leader decided to live like a dog; cynic means canine. To Diogenes animals, as well as men, were his brothers. To attain his goal of self-sufficiency it was necessary to relinquish all wordly possessions. As a dramatic expression of his simple life he made his bathtub his home, even tossing aside a cup for the more natural way of drinking - clasped hands.
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