Greek mystery religion and Pythagoreanism
Empedocles
Philosopher, poet, religious teacher and reputed wonder-worker, in whom natural philosophy and salvific teaching sit side by side rather than in separate domains.
- Dates
- c. 490s BCE – c. 430s BCE
- Dating
- approximate dates
- Born
- Acragas, Sicily
The life
His cosmology taught four fundamental roots — earth, air, fire and water — acted on by Love and Strife. He also taught transmigration and purification, and later traditions portrayed him as very nearly a magician.
Place in the tradition
The four elements enter Western esotericism through this line, and so does the refusal to separate physics from salvation.
a note on the record
History and later legend
The famous story that he leapt into Mount Etna to prove his divinity is legendary, not established biography. His precise year and circumstances of death are unknown.
the written record
Principal works
-
fifth century BCE
On Nature
A cosmological poem explaining the four roots, cosmic cycles, perception and natural phenomena.
-
fifth century BCE
Purifications
Traditionally treated as a separate religious poem on reincarnation, pollution, divine exile and purification. Scholars debate whether it and On Nature originally belonged to one larger work.