Vat.lat.5953

...they called his offspring, a certain Samian poet [said]: that he himself descended from Apollo in these words:
whence and

this report deservedly deserves to be recounted: to this Mnesarchus of Samos, setting out for Delphi with a woman whose pregnancy original: "conceptio"; refers to the state of having conceived was not yet apparent, the Pythia The high priestess of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi who delivered oracles predicted before he sailed to Syria: That [the journey] would indeed be of great spirit and profitable. But that the woman had already conceived and would give birth to a boy excelling all those of that time in beauty and wisdom. From whom there would be the greatest benefit to the human race original: "humano gni [generi]" for the whole of life. But Mnesarchus, considering that the god would not have poured out an oracle upon him—without him even asking—unless some singular privilege were to come to him and be a gift of the god: immediately, instead of Parthenis The mother's original name, he called the woman Pythais, after the child she was to bear and the prophetess. When she gave birth in Sidon of Phoenicia, he named the son Pythagoras, because he had been announced by the Pythia. But Epimenides, Eudoxus, and others, including Xenocrates, are to be held to account original: "accusandi"; Ficino suggests these authors are mistaken or over-literal for suspecting that Apollo had coupled with Parthenis, and that while she was conceiving—not having conceived before—she had been moved and announced by the prophet. This however is absurd; nevertheless, that the soul of Pythagoras, existing under the leadership of Apollo, whether as an attendant or in some other way coordinated very closely to this god, was sent down to men: no one should doubt, drawing an inference from this birth and from the most upright wisdom of his soul. And let these many sayings regarding his birth suffice. After Mnesarchus returned to Samos from Syria with the greatest profit and most abundant riches, he built a temple, dedicating it to Pythian Apollo; and he gave the boy over to be educated by various teachers of the greatest authority. First indeed to Creophylus; then to Pherecydes of Syros. And he introduced him to all those who were in charge of sacred matters, so that he might learn divine things as much as possible. He, however...