Pythagoreanism can be defined in a number of ways.
(1) Pythagoreanism is the philosophy of the ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras (ca. 570 – ca. 490 BCE), which prescribed a highly structured way of life and espoused the doctrine of metempsychosis (transmigration of the soul after death into a new body, human or animal).
He is consistently portrayed as a rebel in the Pythagorean tradition