Pythagoras' Ban of Beans

Apollonius, Aristoxenus, H.P. Blavatsky, Empedocles, A.C. Gellius, Iamblichus, Pausanias, Plutarch, Porphyrius, Thos. Taylor · Down to Earth Series · 33 pages

A thirty-three page compilation drawing on Apollonius, Aristoxenus, Empedocles, Aulus Gellius, Iamblichus, Pausanias, Plutarch, Porphyry, Thomas Taylor and H.P. Blavatsky, opened by a foreword by the compiler and a full abstract and train of thoughts. The head-note states the plan: the proscription is explained physiologically, pathologically, politically, sexually, mystically, biochemically, esoterically and etymologically, and the claim that Pythagoras was not a strict vegetarian is refuted.

The opening section deals with the stories told of Pythagoras and animals — that he lured and controlled them by the power of his voice, persuading a bean-eating ox to renounce the food by whispering in its ear and a she-bear to give up human flesh, and bringing a white eagle down from the clouds; the compiler compares his dominion over nature with that of Orpheus and asks directly whether the incidents are credible, noting that the Pythagorean Apollonius likewise understood the language of birds. The reported episode of the Pythagorean pilgrims who chose death at the hands of Syracusan soldiers rather than run through a bean field sets the problem the rest of the document addresses. The eight explanations then follow in order. The physiological: fava beans produce flatulence, disturbing to those seeking mental calm, particularly before sleep. The pathological: beans may cause acute haemolytic anaemia in genetically predisposed individuals. The political: Plutarch reads a fabis abstineto as an exhortation to people of principle to keep out of politics. The fourth takes the line attributed to Empedocles about keeping hands off beans as a counsel against sexual indulgence, on the reading that the word stood for the testicles. The mystical explanation is Aristotle's, that the bean stalk, perforated throughout without intervening joints, resembles the gates of Hades and so binds souls to earth. The biochemical turns on the high nitrogen content of beans, taking nitrogen as an earth-born cement rather than a divine element. The esoteric is Blavatsky's, that their magnetism dulls the inner man. The last is etymological, deriving the reason from the name of the bean itself.

Read the full text (PDF, 1.6 MB, 33 pages)