In case anyone’s wondering, the response is made up. The editorial that the OP excerpt comes from is also fantastical and totally unsupported by any accounts that I can find, but for the sake of context, it continues:
He buried a quantity of beans in mud, let them remain there for a few weeks, and then retrieved them. He noted their resemblance to human fetuses, thus convincing himself of the intimate relationship between beans and humans. To eat a bean would therefore be akin to eating human flesh. Equally, to crush, smash, or dirty a bean would be to harm a human. Thus the very strict rule to abstain from beans.
Just to restate this, that article is not verifiable or based on reliable accounts, and it cites no sources.
No one really knows why the Pythagoreans didn’t eat fava beans. Historical speculation from a few sources includes:
farts are bad
beans are bad for your health
beans cause bad sleep
they’re basically animals, in the same category as meat and eggs
temple mystics advise not to eat them
they’re the same shape as the universe
they’re the same shape as genitals
they’re used to cast votes, and you shouldn’t associate with politicians
Ah yes, the early human fetus, famously very visually distinct from the early fetuses of other mammals. /s
Also, would he even have had access to human fetuses in the first place? More so than other animals’ fetuses (since he apparently naturally associated the shape of the bean specifically to human fetuses)? I looked into it a bit, and I have my doubts. Pythagoras (Wikipedia) lived c. 570 – c. 495 BC, hundreds of years before human dissections were a thing in Ancient Greece. His listed main interests do not include anything medicine-adjacent. He did travel, I suppose.
In case anyone’s wondering, the response is made up. The editorial that the OP excerpt comes from is also fantastical and totally unsupported by any accounts that I can find, but for the sake of context, it continues:
Just to restate this, that article is not verifiable or based on reliable accounts, and it cites no sources.
No one really knows why the Pythagoreans didn’t eat fava beans. Historical speculation from a few sources includes:
Ah yes, the early human fetus, famously very visually distinct from the early fetuses of other mammals. /s
Also, would he even have had access to human fetuses in the first place? More so than other animals’ fetuses (since he apparently naturally associated the shape of the bean specifically to human fetuses)? I looked into it a bit, and I have my doubts. Pythagoras (Wikipedia) lived c. 570 – c. 495 BC, hundreds of years before human dissections were a thing in Ancient Greece. His listed main interests do not include anything medicine-adjacent. He did travel, I suppose.
Mediterranean people are often allergic to fava (broad) beans. I have this and am Greek and almost died discovering it
TIL, Im hauling the whole weight of the universe with me.
why do you think stuff goes all saggy with age? mere mortals were not meant to carry such burdens
Thank you for the added context