The 7 myths of Pythagoras
He soon became a mythical figure, credited with miracles and magic powers, but he was also the founder of a school of mathematicians. Thus two opposing traditions disputed his memory, and the truth is hard to disentangle. Pythagoras is one of the most interesting and puzzling men in history. Not only are the traditions concerning him an almost inextricable mixture of truth and falsehood, but even in their barest and least disputable form they present us with a very curious psychology. He may be described, briefly, as a combination of Einstein and Mrs. Eddy. He founded a religion, of which the main tenets were the transmigration of souls and the sinfulness of eating beans.
A mythical figure with supernatural powers and a small group of devoted followers—can't help but see the parallels to Christ. I wonder how common mythologizing and symbolic flourishing is to figures of antiquity, and how much time distortion plays in it. In the case of Pythagoras, there was 700 years between his time and his detailed biographies (from which we know most about him). In the case of Christ, it's traditionally thought to be 25 years, but if we trace Christianity back to the Essene cult, we could be misdating by 100 years (and with that time comes mutations).
A few Pythagoras myths: (1) he had a golden thigh; (2) he remembers—and apparently proved details of—his past lives; (3) he communicated with animals (bear, ox, eagle); (4) he controlled the weather (rivers, earthquakes, storms, plagues); (5) he was recognize by Abaris (a Hyperborean shaman-priest) as Apollo incarnate, and given a golden arrow; (6) he controlled minds through music; (7) he could hear the planets.