Hypatia (or Hypatia) of Alexandria, who lived at the turn of the 4th-5th centuries A. D. - the most famous female scientist of the Ancient World.
The exact date of birth of Hypatia is unknown. She is believed to have been born between 355 and 370. Hypatia was the daughter of the famous ancient Greek scholar Theon of Alexandria, who was the manager of the Library of Alexandria, the largest library of antiquity. Theon taught astronomy and mathematics, and Euclid's Beginnings have come down to us in Theon's edition, supplied with his commentaries.
Hypatia was educated under the guidance of her father and began to teach independently in Alexandria. The younger contemporary of Hypatia, the church historian Socrates Scholastic wrote about her:
“She acquired such scholarship that she surpassed contemporary philosophers, was the successor of the Platonic school, descended from Plato, and taught all philosophical sciences to those who wish. Therefore, those who wanted to study philosophy flocked to her from all sides. By her education, having a self-confidence worthy of respect, she with modesty appeared even in the face of the rulers, and even in that she did not put any shame among the men, for for her extraordinary modesty everyone respected her and marveled at her.
One may come across the opinion that this Fayum portrait depicts Hypatia, but this is not so. Hypatia lived two centuries after painting the portrait.
Below are other pictures:
Elbert Hubbard - Hypatia.
Promotional video:
Alfred Seifert - Hypatia.
It is believed that the works of Hypatia have not survived and therefore we cannot judge what her philosophical and scientific views were. However, there is another point of view on the safety of her works. In the book “The History of Diophantine Analysis from Diophantus to Fermat”, I. G. Bashmakova and E. I. Slavutin raise the question of the creator of the text that formed the basis of the Arabic manuscript “Arithmetic” by the ancient Greek mathematician Diophantus found a little more than 20 years ago. Well-known Russian historians of mathematics believe that the author of the treatise, translated by Costa Ibn Luka, should be sought among the Alexandrian and Byzantine scholars of the 4th-6th centuries. Bashmakova and Slavutin come to the conclusion that the Arabic manuscript is not a part of Diophantus 'Arithmetic, but an independent work on the same topic, written by an unknown commentator who was well versed in Diophantus' methods. But in the period between V – IX centuries. there lived only one mathematician, whom sources speak of as a commentator on Diophantus' Arithmetic. This is Hypatia. In addition, we know nothing of other high-level mathematicians who lived during this period. “Thus,” Bashmakova and Slavutin conclude, “it can be assumed that the Arabic fragment is a translation of the text she annotated. If so, then this is the only work of Hypatia that has survived to this day. "then this is the only work of Hypatia that has survived to this day. "then this is the only work of Hypatia that has survived to this day."
Fragment of the painting * School of Athens *, by Raphael Santi, where the artist depicted Hypatia.
In 395, Egypt became a Byzantine province ruled by the imperial prefect. Alexandria is the third largest city in the empire (after Constantinople and Antioch). Since the majority of the population of Alexandria at that time were Christians, the Alexandrian patriarch enjoyed great influence in the city. Paganism and Christian heresies corroded the unity of the Byzantine Empire, which, moreover, was under the threat of falling from the invasions of the barbarians, therefore in 391 the emperor Theodosius, by his decree, prohibited the practice of all pagan cults. In Alexandria, under the leadership of Patriarch Theophilos, the destruction of pagan temples began, which caused a clash between pagans and Christians. Probably during this period was completely destroyed repository of pagan wisdom - the Library of Alexandria. Hypatia in the conflict between pagans and Christians remained neutral, because her students included representatives of both religious camps.
Illustration for Charles Kingsley's novel * Hypatia *. Artist Lee Woodwarth Ziegler.
Illustration for the novel by Charles Kingsley * Hypatia *. Artist Byam Shaw.
Production of * Hypatia * at the Royal Theater in London (1893).
Actress (possibly Mary Anderson) as Hypatia (1900).
In 412, Patriarch Theophilus dies and as a result of the internal church struggle, Cyril, Theophilus' nephew, takes his place. Cyril strives for the fullness of power in Egypt and with a decisive hand eliminates all the disaffected, relying on people loyal to him - monks from the Nitrian desert and the Parabalans (a Christian community whose members voluntarily looked after the sick and buried those who died from diseases, in the hope of thus accepting death in Christ). Cyril successfully fights against heretics and Jews: the churches of the followers of Novatian (Roman antipope in 251-258) were closed, and their property was confiscated, the Jews were expelled from Alexandria and Cyril is left with only an obstacle in the struggle for absolute power in Egypt - the imperial prefect Orestes, a disciple of Hypatia. Once a crowd of Cyril's supporters blocked the path of the chariot of Orestes and began to insult the prefect,accusing him of paganism. The reason for rumors that the prefect adopted paganism was his sympathy for Hypatia. Defending himself against the thrown accusation, Orestes informed the monks that he had been baptized by the Patriarch of Constantinople Atticus. Since Atticus was an ally of John Chrysostom, the enemy of Theophilus (uncle Cyril), the words of Orestes further enraged the crowd. The confrontation ended with the fact that one of the monks, Ammonius, threw a stone at Orestes, which hit the prefect in the head. Ammonius was captured by the guards and subjected to torture, from which he died. Cyril proclaimed Ammonius a holy martyr, for which the patriarch was criticized by moderate Christians.that he was baptized by the Patriarch of Constantinople Atticus. Since Atticus was an ally of John Chrysostom, the enemy of Theophilus (uncle Cyril), the words of Orestes further enraged the crowd. The confrontation ended with the fact that one of the monks, Ammonius, threw a stone at Orestes, which hit the prefect in the head. Ammonius was captured by the guards and subjected to torture, from which he died. Cyril proclaimed Ammonius a holy martyr, for which the patriarch was criticized by moderate Christians.that he was baptized by the Patriarch of Constantinople Atticus. Since Atticus was an ally of John Chrysostom, the enemy of Theophilus (uncle Cyril), the words of Orestes further enraged the crowd. The confrontation ended with the fact that one of the monks, Ammonius, threw a stone at Orestes, which hit the prefect in the head. Ammonius was captured by the guards and subjected to torture, from which he died. Cyril proclaimed Ammonius a holy martyr, for which the patriarch was criticized by moderate Christians.for which the patriarch was criticized by moderate Christians.for which the patriarch was criticized by moderate Christians.
Since the confrontation directly with Orestes ended unsuccessfully for Cyril, the patriarch decided to remove Orestes's most famous ally in the city, Hypatia, from the path. There was talk in the city that it was she who opposed the reconciliation of the patriarch and the prefect, and then a new rumor appeared: Hypatia allegedly practices black magic. Rumors achieved the result Cyril desired: on March 415, a crowd of parabalans attacked Hypatia, pulled her out of the cart and dragged her to the church. Having tore at Hypatia's clothes, Christian fanatics killed her with shards of broken pottery. After dismembering the dead body, they burned it.
Charles William Mitchell - Hypatia.
Illustration for the novel by Charles Kingsley * Hypatia *. Artist Lee Woodwarth Ziegler.
William Mortensen - Death of Hypatia.
The death of Hypatia had its effect: after that, the story is silent about Orestes. Cyril became a sovereign master in Egypt. After his death, Cyril was recognized as a saint. In the Life of St. Cyril of Alexandria, the death of Hypatia is presented in a completely different way than it actually was:
“There was a girl in Alexandria named Hypatia, the daughter of the philosopher Theon. She was a woman of faith and virtue, and, distinguished by Christian wisdom, she spent her days in purity and integrity, observing virginity. From her youth, she was taught philosophy by her father Theon and was so successful in wisdom that she surpassed all the philosophers who lived at that time. She didn’t want to get married, partly out of a desire to freely practice wisdom and study of books, but especially she kept her virginity out of love for Christ.” She was killed by the "world-hating rebels." According to the life, there were no Nitrian monks in the city at that time. Upon learning of what had happened, they "were filled with sorrow and pity for the innocent victims of the rebellion," and when they came to Alexandria to protect Cyril, they threw stones at the prefect's chariot.
There is another version of the death of Hypatia, which was put forward by Ari Allenby, who believes that Hypatia was killed not in 415, but in 416 due to a conflict over calculating the exact date of Easter in 417.
According to the modern formula, Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first spring full moon, i.e. the full moon must occur either on the day itself or shortly after the vernal equinox. However, it is not known when this definition was adopted - all that we have in our hands is the church calendar tables of the fourth - fifth centuries. The Roman Church calculated Easter on the basis of an 84-year cycle, and the Church of Alexandria based on a 19-year calendar. There were additional differences between the two traditions: if the first spring full moon fell on Saturday, then the Alexandrian Church celebrated Easter the next day, but the Roman Church delayed Easter for a week, until the next Sunday. The Alexandrian Church was recognized in 325 by the Council of Nicea as an expert on the dating of Easter (possiblybecause of the practical "Syntax" - knowledge of the famous book of Claudius Ptolemy). Ari Allenby believes that through astronomical observations, Hypatia found out that the vernal equinox falls on a much earlier date (March 16 or 17) than the accepted March 21. Hypatia reported this to Prefect Orestes. The prefect's message to Constantinople could undermine the credibility of the Alexandrian church in the matter of calculating the day of Easter, and therefore Hypatia was killed. The prefect's message to Constantinople could undermine the credibility of the Alexandrian church in the matter of calculating the day of Easter, and therefore Hypatia was killed. The prefect's message to Constantinople could undermine the credibility of the Alexandrian church in the matter of calculating the day of Easter, and therefore Hypatia was killed.
Ari Allenby also connects Cyril's conflict with the Jews with disagreements over the calculation of the day of Easter. Jewish Passover should fall on the first spring full moon; the Christian Easter full moon is its direct counterpart. In 417, the Jewish Passover in Alexandria fell on March 17 - the same day as the Roman Passover Full Moon. This led Cyril to suspect a conspiracy between the Roman Church and the Jews of Alexandria, for this very reason the Jewish community of Alexandria was expelled.
In 2009, the Spanish film Agora was released, starring Rachel Weisz as Hypatia. Although, as mentioned earlier, we cannot know anything about the scientific views of Hypatia, in the film she is shown as a staunch supporter of the helicentric system of Aristarchus of Samos and the creator of the theory of elliptical orbits of planets. The film "Agora" drew a flurry of criticism from Christians, but even among the Christian community there were those who did not perceive the film as anti-Christian. For example, New York priest Philip Gray noted that Christians who recognized themselves as fanatics and murderers from the film needed serious introspection. Hypatia, shown in the film, according to Gray, looks like a greater follower of Christianity than her persecutors, and the final scene, where Hypatia calmly goes to death, evokes associations with Christ's path to Calvary.
Rachel Weisz as Hypatia in * Agora *.