Episode 8: Hypatia of Alexandria
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Hypatia of Alexandria was a mathematician and natural philosopher who lived in the fifth century CE. She is counted among the first women to professionally teach astronomy and mathematics in the Mediterranean world. However, she is better known because of the circumstances of her death than her accomplishments in life.
The city of Alexandria in Egypt is the most famous of the many founded by Alexander the Great. From its establishment in 331 BCE, it was the intellectual center of the ancient world. This was, in part, due to the massive library, museum, and university that called the city home. The library held nearly a half million scrolls. Generations of rule by the Ptolemy Dynasty ended in 30 BCE with the victory of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (later Augustus) over his colleague Marc Antony and the Pharaoh Cleopatra VII. The Alexandria of the Roman Era was somewhat depleted; spillover from Rome’s civil wars had destroyed much of the library and imperial ownership for much of the first century CE limited movement into the city, but it remained a cultural center into the fifth century.
Hypatia is one of the last non-Christian philosophers in fifth century Alexandria, and is often counted as the very last. Overall, we know very little about Hypatia. Her father, Theon, was the last member of the Alexandrian Museum and known for his own work in astronomy and mathematics. We know nothing of her mother, not even her name. Theon taught his daughter mathematics and astronomy and encouraged her study of philosophy. They collaborated on commentaries of older works, the best known of which is a copy of Ptolemy’s Almagest, an astronomical treatise from the second century, which was the standard until invalidated by the work of Copernicus and Galileo. Her work as a teacher of math and science is attested in letters from her students which not only describe her lessons but also praise her ability.
She was a practitioner and teacher of Neoplatonist philosophy. This is an ideology that draws on the writing of Plato and Aristotle to explain the universe as a derivative of The One, an ineffable source of everything that exists. Neoplatonism would later find common ground with Christianity, but in the first decades of the fifth century, they were still at odds.
It was not her philosophy in particular that brought Hypatia to the attention of Cyril, the Bishop of Alexandria, but her political connections. She was a friend, and possibly advisor, of the Roman prefect, Orestes. He and the bishop contended over who had ultimate power in the city. Though Orestes was an avowed Christian, he did not believe that the bishop should hold secular as well as religious control. Cyril orchestrated an (unsuccessful) assassination attempt against Orestes. Rather than target Orestes again, as he had hired personal guards, Cyril began to speak out against Hypatia, claiming it was she who stood in the way of Orestes ceding authority to Cyril. She was a much-loved figure in the city, but a group of overzealous Christians, led by Peter the Lector, were long-standing opponents. In March of 415, having heard that Hypatia was standing in the way of the Church having full control of the city, Peter led his followers to attack her on the road. She was dragged from her carriage into a church, stripped naked and beaten to death. Her body was then torn to pieces and burned.
There is no definite evidence that Cyril ordered the assassination however, there is no doubt that he benefitted from it. His involvement was investigated but he was never charged, likely due to a bribe he arranged with one of Theodosius II’s aides. Within a few years, Orestes had been pushed out of Alexandrian politics, leaving Cyril to take his place of authority over the city council.
Hypatia’s murder shocked the Mediterranean world. In all of the uprisings and public violence of the Roman world, philosophers were generally seen as untouchable. Their position outside of, and as commentators on, politics and society was deemed to protect them. However, the increasing membership in and influence of the Christian Church pushed against other ideologies and people perceived as anti-Christian, even if they were not.
Hypatia has been remembered variably over the centuries. She has been seen as a martyr for paganism and for scientific rationality. She has been used as an example of the dangers (and consequences) of allowing women to be too highly educated. She has been adopted as a feminist figure in response to her independence. She is often held up as an example of why there needs to be sex equality in academia. What she is rarely remembered for are her works, her commentaries on Ptolemy’s Almagest, Diophantus’ Arithmatica, and Apollonius of Perga's works on geometry. Her place as a beloved teacher of the sciences and philosophy is often only mentioned as a prelude to her death but, to me, that is the most important way to remember her.