The article presents different aspects of the figure of Pythagoras in the biographies from the
3rd century, trying to understand the development of the image of this mysterious and charismatic
character: the renown of a man of great knowledge gave way, when Pythagoras was still living, to
the fame of a sage, magician and god incarnated. In the centuries that followed, this figure,
influenced heavily by the Platonic doctrines, reappears as the prototype of philosopher and teacher
of virtue and of the ideal way of life. In the period of the rising Christianity, the figure of
Pythagoras was offering an alternative salvation, attainable through the cathartic power of the
Philosophy.
