Page 131 - STOLEN LEGACY By George G. M. James

(2) The Pythagorean Theorem

Pythagoras travelled to Egypt and was taught geometry by the Egyptian Priests and made to
sacrifice to the Gods, before they showed him the proof of the theorem of the square on the
hypotenuse of a right angled triangle. Pythagoras did not discover this proof, and it is misleading
to name the theorem after him. Read Herodotus, Bk. III, p. 124; Diogenes, Bk. VIII, p. 3; Pliny,
N. H., 36, 9; also Plutarch and Demetrius.

Chapter VI

(1) The doctrine of self-knowledge: Man know thyself (Seauton gnothi)

This doctrine has been falsely ascribed to Socrates. It was an inscription that was placed on the
Egyptian temples, and Socrates copied it directly or indirectly. Read Zeller's History of
Philosophy, p. 105; S. Clymer's Fire Philosophy and Max Muller's Egyptian Mythology.

(2) The Farewell Conversation of Socrates with his pupils and friends

These conversations are significant in the following respects:

(a) Socrates is identified as a member of the Egyptian Mysteries or Masonic Order.
(b) Masonic behavior is manifested through these conversations.
(c) The books containing these conversations; Plato's Crito, Phaedo, Euthyphro, Apology and
Timaeus, are the earliest specimen of Masonic literature apart from the secret writings of the
Egyptians.
(d) Of the three Athenian philosophers Socrates stood highest in the rank of a Free Mason. He
was not afraid of death, he did not publish the knowledge imparted to him and he was an honest
man. Read Crito and Phaedo of Plato.

(3) Plato's Theory of Ideas

After the Egyptian Priests discovered the fundamental principle of opposites as underlying life in
the universe, they applied it in their interpretation of natural phenomena. Consequently this mode
of interpretation has been reflected in the teachings of the so-called Greek philosophers who had
obtained their education from the Egyptian Mystery System. Read the doctrines of Parmenides
who in the problem of existence distinguishes between Being and non-Being; also of Heracleitus
in the problem of flux and change through the process of transmutation; also of Socrates in the
proof of immortality, and Plato in his supposed Theory of Ideas, in which he distinguished
between (a) the real and unreal (b) the idea of a thing and the thing itself (c) the noumena and
phenomena. In all these instances the principle of opposites has been used as a method of
interpretation. This method is Egyptian not Platonic.

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Stolen Legacy: Greek Philosophy is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy by George G. M. James
The Journal of Pan African Studies 2009 eBook