HIPPASOS OF METAPONTUM, Pythagorean philoso pher, was one of the earliest disciples of Pythagoras. Nothing is known of his life. Diogenes Laertius says that he left no writings, but other authorities ascribe to him a Xh yos directed against the Pythagoreans. According' to Aristotle (Met., i. 3), he held the Heraclitean fire-doctrine, whereas the Pythagoreans main tained that number is the first principle. He seems to have regarded the soul as composed of igneous matter, and so approxi mates the Pythagorean doctrine of the central fire to the theories of Heraclitus. In spite of this divergence, Hippasos is always regarded as a Pythagorean.
See Diogenes, viii. 84 ; Diels, Fragmente der Vorsokratiker, vol. i. (4th ed., 1922) ; also PYTHAGORAS.