16. The Ancient Greeks Had Some Funny Philosophers – Some of Them Unexpectedly So
People don’t usually think of Pythagoras (circa 570 – circa 495 BC) as the kind of fellow who was a barrel laughs. However, the ancient Greek philosopher, whose Pythagorean theorem has tormented school children for generations untold, could actually be a wild one at times. The man had some pretty funny beliefs, such as his avoidance of beans because he thought that they contained the souls of the dead, or that people lost a part of their soul whenever they cut a fart.
The caveat, though, is that Pythagoras did not think that those beliefs were funny: he was dead serious about them. Literally dead serious. When he was forced to flee for his life from pursuers out to kill him, his flight path ended at a field of beans. Rather than cut through the field and come in contact with the detested beans, he turned around to face his killers. They promptly went ahead and killed him. However, as seen below, Pythagoras did have a fun side, some of which was manifested in his invention of a prank cup that spilled wine on drinkers.