Hypatia of Alexandria

From FB:

“March 12th commemorates the martyrdom of Hypatia of Alexandria. Born in 370 CE, she was dean of a Neoplatonic school there and considered a universal genius. A famed astronomer and mathematician, she was the first female mathematician whose life was reasonably well recorded. Although she herself was a pagan, she was tolerant towards Christians and taught many Christian students, including Synesius, the future bishop of Ptolemais. Ancient sources record that Hypatia was widely beloved by pagans and Christians alike and that she established great influence with the political elite in Alexandria.Traces of rumors that spread among the Christian populace of Alexandria before her murder alleged in his Chronicle that Hypatia had engaged in Satanic practices and had intentionally hampered the church’s influence over the Roman Emperor.According to Socrates Scholasticus, during the Christian season of Lent in March 415, a mob of Christians under the leadership of a lector named Peter raided Hypatia’s carriage as she was traveling home. They dragged her into a building known as the Kaisarion, a former pagan temple and center of the Roman imperial cult in Alexandria that had been converted into a Christian church. There, the mob stripped Hypatia naked and murdered her using ostraka, which can either be translated as “roof tiles” or “oyster shells.” Damascius adds that they also cut out her eyeballs. They then tore her body into pieces and dragged her mangled limbs through the town to a place called Cinarion, where they set them on fire. According to Watts, this was in line with the traditional manner in which Alexandrians carried the bodies of the “vilest criminals” outside the city limits to cremate them as a way of symbolically purifying the city. Hypatia’s murder shocked the Roman Empire and transformed her into a “martyr for philosophy.” During the Middle Ages, Hypatia was co-opted as a symbol of Christian virtue and scholars believe she was part of the basis for the legend of Saint Catherine of Alexandria. During the Age of Enlightenment, she became a symbol of opposition to Catholicism. In the twentieth century, Hypatia became seen as an icon for women’s rights and a precursor to the feminist movement.”