Hypatia of Alexandria, wise and a martyr
The figure of Hypatia of Alexandria, a young mathematician and philosopher brutally murdered by Christian fanatics, marks a turning point between the culture of Greek reasoning and medieval obscurantism.
As it happens with many wise people of older times, little is known of her life, but enough to consider her an icon of wisdom and a woman ahead of her time, who became director of the Museum of Alexandria on her own merits in a male world that left few opportunities for the training and freedom of women.
A well-rounded human being
Greek for its education and culture, Egyptian for the location of Alexandria and Roman because at the time, the city of the Nile Delta was part of the Roman Empire, Hypatia was born in the year 370, although some chronicles place her birth in 355. There is no information regarding her mother, but her father was the famous Theon of Alexandria, great philosopher and mathematician of the time whose mentality allowed Hypatia to become who she was. Theon educated her as a child to make her a complete individual according to the Greek ideal, a human being who cultivates both body and mind and gathers wisdom, beauty and reason. Thus, physical exercise and relaxing baths were combined in the formation of Hypatia with the cultivation of arts, sciences and music. In addition, to complete her education she travelled to Rome and Athens where she studied philosophy, astronomy, mathematics, physics and logic.
Back in Alexandria, she went to work at the Museum, a sort of university of her time, where she surpassed his father in knowledge. Some historians believe that many writings attributed to Theon were actually the work of his daughter. Hypatia contributed to the invention of devices such as the astrolabe and the aerometer, defended heliocentrism and made studies on the specific weight of liquids and on Euclidean geometry. As a philosopher, she was a standard-bearer of Neoplatonic thought. Her talent and dedication were rewarded with the position of Museum Director.
Fundamentalism
The problem is that Hypatia was a pagan and the living forces of Christianity, converted since 391 into the official and unique religion of the Roman Empire, considered everything pagan, including scientific knowledge, to be persecuted. In the time of Bishop Theophilus it was attempted to destroy everything that did not come from the Bible, like Hellenic books and temples. There were riots and deaths, and many pagans converted due to the pressure they were under. Hypatia refused and initially saved her skin because the Roman governor helped her in front of the Christian hierarchy. However, the new bishop of Alexandria, Cyril, later canonized by the Church, called her a witch and a sorceress, and is believed to have been behind her tragic death in 415. Hypatia was beaten, stripped, raped, dragged through the city and, finally, killed by the Parabolans, a group of fundamentalist monks.
The age of Enlightenment rescued the figure of Hypatia from oblivion, and was considered one of the first victims of religious fanaticism and the last great sage of the Roman Empire.
