The 'Pseudopythagorica' and their Philosophical Background. A discussion of Angela Ulacco, 'Pseudopythagorica Dorica'

Abstract

This is a review article of Angela Ulacco’s recent Italian translation, with introduction and commentary, of four pseudo-Pythagorean treatises. Part 1 focuses on the philosophical background of the Pseudopythagorica and, more precisely, on the connection between these treatises and first century BC philosophy. Part 2 focuses on Pseudo-Archytas’s On opposites and discusses some parallels between this work and the early Peripatetic commentators (in particular Boethus of Sidon). Parts 3 and 4 focus on Pseudo-Archytas’s On principles. This treatise contains echoes of Aristotle’s theology and the same situation can be found in a famous fragment of Eudorus of Alexandria. It is argued that Plutarch’s references to Aristotle’s metaphysics and epoptics (see in particular Plutarch, Alex., 7) can shed some light on these issues.