Hypatia

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Hypatia bigraphy, stories - Ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician

Hypatia : biography

c. 351–370 – 415

Hypatia (b. ca. AD 350–370, d. 415) ( ; Hypatía) was a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher in Roman Egypt who was the first well-documented woman in mathematics. As head of the Platonist school at Alexandria, she also taught philosophy and astronomy.Krebs, Groundbreaking Scientific Experiments, Inventions, and Discoveries; The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, 1999: "Greek Neoplatonist philosopher who lived and taught in Alexandria." citation:Alexandrian Neoplatonic philosopher and mathematician, Encyclopædia Britannica: "Egyptian Neoplatonist philosopher who was the first notable woman in mathematics."

As a Neoplatonist philosopher, she belonged to the mathematic tradition of the Academy of Athens, as represented by Eudoxus of Cnidus;, The Philosopher’s Zone, ABC Radio National (4 April 2009). she was of the intellectual school of the 3rd century thinker Plotinus, which encouraged logic and mathematical study in place of empirical enquiry and strongly encouraged law in place of nature.

According to the only contemporary source, Hypatia was murdered by a Christian mob after being accused of exacerbating a conflict between two prominent figures in Alexandria: the governor Orestes and the Bishop of Alexandria.Edward Jay Watts, (2006), , pages 197–198. University of California Press Kathleen Wider proposes that the murder of Hypatia marked the end of Classical antiquity,, by Kathleen Wider. Hypatia © 1986 Indiana University Press p. 49–50; Mangasarian, Mangasar Mugurditch. The Martyrdom of Hypatia, 1915 and Stephen Greenblatt observes that her murder "effectively marked the downfall of Alexandrian intellectual life".Greenblatt, The Swerve: how the world became modern 2011:93. On the other hand, Maria Dzielska and Christian Wildberg note that Hellenistic philosophy continued to flourish in the 5th and 6th centuries, and perhaps until the age of Justinian.Christian Wildberg, in , The Philosopher’s Zone, ABC Radio National (4 April 2009); Dzielska 1995, p. 105

Life

The mathematician and philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria was the daughter of the mathematician Theon Alexandricus (ca. 335–405). She was educated at Athens. Around AD 400, she became head of the Platonist school at Alexandria,Dzielska 1995, p. 66Historical Dictionary of Feminism, by Janet K. Boles, Diane Long Hoeveler. p. 166. where she imparted the knowledge of Plato and Aristotle to any student; the pupils included pagans, Christians, and foreigners.Bregman, J. (1982). "Synesius of Cyrene: Philosopher-bishop". Berkeley: University of California Press.

The contemporary 5th-century sources do identify Hypatia of Alexandria as a practitioner and teacher of the philosophy of Plato and Plotinus, but, two hundred years later, the 7th-century Egyptian Coptic bishop John of Nikiû identified her as a Hellenistic pagan and that "she was devoted at all times to magic, astrolabes and instruments of music, and she beguiled many people through her Satanic wiles".John, Bishop of Nikiu, Chronicle 84.87-103 Not all Christians were as hostile towards her as John of Nikiu or the monks who killed her: some Christians even used Hypatia as symbolic of Virtue.

The Byzantine Suda encyclopaedia reported that Hypatia was "the wife of Isidore the Philosopher" (apparently Isidore of Alexandria); however, Isidore of Alexandria was not born until long after Hypatia’s death, and no other philosopher of that name contemporary with Hypatia is known."Isidorus 1" entry in John Robert Martindale, (1980), The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Cambridge University Press The Suda also stated that "she remained a virgin" and that she rejected a suitor with her menstrual rags, saying that they demonstrated "nothing beautiful" about carnal desire, an example of a Christian source using Hypatia as a symbol of Virtue.Kingsley, Charles. "Hypatia" preface agreeing with Gibbon quotation.