The Book of DieselThe Light Before the Gospel“He asked Mehrasp whether Ahura Mazda had chosen Persia. The Magus placed an unlit lamp between them. ‘Does the flame become Persian when a Persian lights it?’ Pythagoras said no. ‘Then do not insult the Wise Lord by giving him a border.’”
The Book of Diesel · Gospel Threshold Edition v4.5
Later biographical traditionAncient or late-antique tradition supplies the premise; the private scenes are reconstructed.
Later biographies say Pythagoras was taken from Egypt to Babylon after Cambyses’s conquest and studied with Magi and Babylonian scholars. These detailed traditions were written centuries later and cannot be treated as secure biography.
The captivity, teacher Mehrasp, and all private scenes are historical fiction built from later traditions.