PYRRHO 391 PYX father Achilles. It was danced by boys in armor, accompanied by the lute or lyre. Also a metrical foot consisting of two short syllables. PYRRHO, a celebrated philosopher of Elis, and founder of the sect called Skep- tics, or Pyrrhonists, flourished about 340 B. C. He was originally a painter, but afterward became a disciple of Anaxar- chus, whom he accompanied to India in the train of Alexander the Great, and while there obtained a knowledge of the doctrines of the Brahmins, Gymjioso- phistes, Magi, and other eastern sages. On the return of Pyrrho to Greece, the inhabitants of Elea made him their high priest, and the Athenians gave him the rights of citizenship. He died in 288 B. C. PYRRHUS, King of Epirus, being obliged, on the murder of his father, to seek safety by flight, found a home, par- ent, and tutor in Glaucus, King of Illy- ria, and ascended his father's throne, 295 B. C. Having attempted to possess himself of Macedon, he was defeated in a great battle. In 281 B. C. he made war on the Romans with the Samnites and in a battle fought on the Syris, in Calabria, totally defeated the Roman army. It cost him heavily however and the Ro- mans ultimately triumphed. Pyrrhus returned to Greece, and, in a subsequent ■war with the Argives, was killed, by a tile thrown on his head from the roof of a house, as he entered Argos, 273 B. C. PYRUS, a genus of Pomaceae, of Pomeae, a tribe of Rosaceae. Fruit two to five celled, with cartilaginous walls. North temperate zone. Known species about 40. Five most familiar are: Pyu- Tu^ cormnunis, the wild pear, P. mains, the wild or crab apple, P. (Soi'bus) tor- minalis, the wild service, P. (Sorbus) aria, the white beam-tree, and P. (Sor- bus) auciiparia, the mountain ash or rowan tree. PYTHAGORAS, the celebrated Greek philosopher, born in Samos, about 580- 570 B. C. He is said to have traveled extensively, especially in Egypt. Aver- sion to the tyranny of Poly crates, in Samos, is said to have been the cause of his quitting that island, and he ulti- mately settled, between 540-530 b. c. at Crotona, one of the Greek cities of Southern Italy. There he set himself to carry out the purpose of instituting a society. Pythagoras himself was the chief, or general, of the order. Similar societies were founded in other cities of Italy. His teachings relating to these subjects became at length the occasion of a popular rising against the Pythag- oreans at Crotona, 504 b. c. — the house in which they were assembled was burned, many perished and the rest were exiled. Similar tumults with similar results, took place in other cities. Among the doctrines of Pythag- oras are the following: that num- bers are the principles of all things; that the universe is a harmonious whole (kos- mos), the heavenly bodies by their mo- tion causing sounds (music of the spheres) ; that the soul is immortal, and passes successively into many bodies (metempsychosis) ; and that the highest aim and blessedness of man is likeness to the Deity. Pythagoras is said to have been the first who took the title of phi- losopher, and the first who applied the term Kosmos to the universe. He died in Metapontum, Magna Grascia, about 500 B. c. PYTHAGOREAN THEOREM, the 47th proposition of the first book of Euclid's "Elements," which shows that in any right-angled triangle the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides. PYTHIAN GAMES, one of the four great national festivals of the Greeks, held in the Crissaean plain, near Delphi (anciently called Pytho), said to have been instituted by Apollo after van- quishing the snaky monster. Python, and celebrated in his honor every four years. Originally the contests were restricted to singing, with the accompaniment of cithern playing; but flute playing, ath- letic contests, horse racing, contests in art and poetry were afterward introduced- PYTHON PYTHON, in Greek mythology, a cele- brated serpent -which destroyed the peo- ple and cattle about Delphi, and was slain by Apollo. In zoology, rock snake. PYTHONESS, the priestess of the tem- ple of Apollo at Delphi, who delivered the oracles of the god; hence, applied to any woman who pretended to foretell coming events. PYX, the sacred vessel used in the Catholic Church to contain the conse- crated eucharistic elements which are preserved after consecration, whether for the communion of the sick or for the adoration of the faithful in the churches. The pyx is usually made of some precious metal, and the interior is commonly lined with gold.
