IT HAPPENED…

On February 22, 1923

The lynching and death of Hypatia of Alexandria

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Xavier Massó

She was strolling through her native Alexandria when a mob of Christian fanatics instigated by Bishop Cyril accosted her and stoned her to death. Philosopher, logician, mathematician and astronomer, Hypatia was undoubtedly one of the most brilliant minds of late antiquity.

Hypatia’s death symbolically marks the end of an era that had begun a thousand years earlier with the first Ionian philosophers and mathematicians in pre-Socratic Greece: Thales, Anaximander, Anaximenes, Pythagoras… which later bore fruit in the Athenian Academy and Lyceum, and whose cultural epicentre had been for the last seven centuries the Hellenistic city of Alexandria, with its Museum and Library.

In Hypatia’s time, Alexandria was certanily far from its best time. Its famous library, which had perhaps accumulated up to half a million manuscript volumes in the first century BC, had already suffered by then several lootings. In 273 by the troops of the Emperor Aurelian, in 297 by those of Diocletian. Finally, in 391, Theodosius had ordered the destruction of all pagan vestiges…

Hypatia’s death symbolically marks the end of an era that had begun a thousand years earlier with the first Ionian philosophers and mathematicians in pre-Socratic Greece

Even so, and thanks to the intercession of some Christian patriarchs, what remained of the ancient library and the remains of its community of scholars were transferred to the temple of the Serapeum, where despite the suspicion, if not open hostility, that the survival of a scholarly community of pagan tradition aroused among many Christians, it continued to function in a more or less precarious way. Many of the members of the ruling Christian elites and the ecclesiastical hierarchy were instructed by them. This would be the case of Bishop Synesius of Cyrene, the grammarian Hesychius of Alexandria, or the imperial prefect of Egypt, Orestes; All of them were former disciples of Hypatia. Something that the most radical and widely popular Christianity did not tolerate.

Hypatia was probably born around the year 355 – other versions speak of 370 – and was the daughter of the astronomer and mathematician Theon. Having been raised in what remained of the ancient community of the Library, she stood out very early for her talent until she became its most conspicuous member. Although very little is known about her life, the disciplines she cultivated would place her in an eclectic and intellectualized neoplatonism, in the philosophical and scientific tradition of the classics, from Plato and Aristotle, to her illustrious predecessors in the Library, such as Eratosthenes or Ptolemy. She is the first female intellectual figure, at least in mathematics and philosophy, whose historical existence is certain. It is known that she wrote about geometry, algebra and astronomy, that she improved the astrolabe and that she designed a densimeter.

But there were turbulent times running, and there was no unanimity within Christianity either, with all kinds of theological controversies proliferating with their inevitable political ramifications. There was a rather intellectualised Christianity among of the more educated classes, which incorporated the pagan intellectual tradition, as opposed to other more purist and radicalised sectors, which considered this tradition a heritage to be eradicated. Any “too educated” Christian could easily be accused of heresy for his sympathies towards the pagans. Such was the case of Bishop Theophilus of Alexandria (d. 412), who had tried to temporise in the face of tensions between the different Christian sectors, on the one hand, and between Christians and pagans, on the other.

William Faulkner said that one can fight ignorance, fanaticism and intolerance… separately

After the death of Theophilus, the Christian population elected his nephew Cyril (370-444) as their new patriarch. He was an agitator known for his populism, his intransigence and his radicalism. He established a regime of persecution in the city against all those who were against his creed and practices, whether Christian or pagan. The governor Orestes himself, a Christian and former pupil of Hypatia, protested to the emperor. Cyril then called on the “500 monks” to help him, a horde of fanatics who became his personal praetorian guard and spread terror in the city. They were the ones who lynched Hypatia.

Bishop Cyril continued his exploits until his death. He is considered a saint by the Orthodox, Coptic and Catholic churches (by pre-congregation). In 1882, Pope Leo XIII proclaimed him a Doctor of the Church.

William Faulkner said that one can fight ignorance, fanaticism and intolerance… separately, but if they come together at the same time, the best thing to do is to speed away. Hypatia did not do that and paid for it with her life. She left us the testimony of her worthy example and today we want to pay tribute to her.

Source: educational EVIDENCE

Rights: Creative Commons