Pythagorean Cup – The Cup that cheers AND controls greed

The Pythagorean Cup is a unique Greek wine cup, designed by the famous Pythagoras, that cheers and controls greed at the same time – Beyonder

Ideal for followers of Lord Bacchus… A wine cup that drains out its contents on the lap of the greedy drinker who fills it beyond a certain level… Designed by Pythagoras… 

You must have heard of Pythagoras I’m sure… If you haven’t, your Maths teacher in school was an inordinately sweet and gentle person or you are an inordinately stubborn and thick-skinned person… 😉 Other than the famous theorem of his, he was a renowned mathematician of ancient Greece who also gave out quotes like “No one is free who has not obtained the empire of himself”…  Must have been quite a dude – think of it, math theorems AND quotes on “empire of the self”… 😉

Pythagoras

Pythagoras of Samos was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher (lived around 500 BC) whose political and spiritual thoughts influenced the philosophies of folks like Plato, Aristotle, etc, and hence, Western philosophy. And, his scientific thoughts impacted the likes of Copernicus, Kepler, and Newton!

He was quite an all-rounder, being credited with theories and concepts as diverse as Metempsychosis (or the “transmigration of souls”, which holds that the soul is immortal and, upon death, enters a new body), the Doctrine of Musica Universalis (which holds that planets move as per mathematical equations and thus resonate to produce a musical symphony that is inaudible), the Pythagorean theorem, Pythagorean tuning, the five regular solids, the Theory of Proportions, the sphericity of the Earth, the division of the globe into five climatic zones, etc. There is some debate on whether he actually is the originator of these thoughts/ theories or it was actually output from his school – but the sheer width of thought is jaw-dropping isn’t it?

The Pythagorean Cup

However, what I like him most for (post my trip to Crete in Greece) is the Pythagorean Cup. It is a practical joke device – a wine cup that when filled beyond a point, drains the contents onto the cup-holders lap! This is the Pythagorean Cup or the Greedy Cup or Tantalus Cup.

The science behind the Pythagorean Cup

The Pythagorean Cup looks like a regular wine cup. However, the bowl has a central column directly over the stem of the cup and a hole at the bottom of the stem. A set of open pipes from this hole runs up to and from an open chamber almost at the top of the central column.

When the cup is filled, Pascal’s principle of communicating vessels kicks in. If the level of liquid rises beyond the level of the chamber, it spills through the chamber. This goes into the first pipe and out of the bottom. Then gravity kicks in to create a siphon through the central column. The entire contents of the cup empties out through the hole at the bottom of the stem. This is typically onto the lap of the unsuspecting drinker… 😉

Interesting way to control the amount of drink your guests consume no? I would love to do this for some of my friends…

My tryst with the Pythagorean Cup

I chanced on this cup while toodling around in Crete. I was told that this was a device credited to Pythagoras. Uncle Pythagoras immediately went up in my esteem! A similar moment of wonder happened to me in Russia many years back. That’s when I discovered that Mendeleev was deeply instrumental in creating that elixir of life – Vodka! Uncle Mendeleev, the scourge of my school days because of his Periodic Table, redeemed himself in my mind.

It is quite brilliant in its simplicity of design, thought and philosophy. The philosophical aspect behind it is in the context of the cup of life. Half-full cups are better than full-to-the-brim cups to prevent spillage of the entire cup of life due to greed. Of course, this may strike you only after a few cups of the good stuff…) 😉

To travel to Greece, toodle around and chance upon more such stuff, legends, and stories – https://beyonder.travel/holiday-destinations/greece/

To visit more such destinations across the world, visit https://beyonder.travel