Hippasus Of Metapontum
HIPPASUS OF METAPONTUM, Pythagorean philosopher, was one of the earliest of the disciples of Pythagoras. He is mentioned both by Diogenes Laertius and by lamblichus, but nothing is known of his life. Diogenes says that he left no writings, but other authorities make him the author of a ^UOTUCOJ XOTOS directed against the Pythagoreans. According to Aristotle (Mctaphysica, i. 3), he was an adherent of the Heraclitean firedoctrine, whereas the Pythagoreans maintained the theory that number is the principle of everything. He seems to have regarded the soul as composed of igneous matter, and so approximates the orthodox Pythagorean doctrine of the central fire, or Hestia. to the more detailed theories of Heraclitus.. In spite of this divergence, Hippasus is always regarded as a Pythagorean.
See Diogenes viii. 84; Brandis, History of Creek and Roman Philosophy; also PYTHAGORAS.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
