Hypatia
The True Story
Silvia Ronchey
- 283 páginas
- English
- ePUB (apto para móviles)
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Hypatia
The True Story
Silvia Ronchey
Información del libro
This study reconstructs Hypatia's existential and intellectual life and her modern Nachleben through a reception-oriented and interdisciplinary approach. Unlike previous publications on the subject, Hypatia explores all available ancient and medieval sources as well as the history of the reception of the figure of Hypatia in later history, literature, and arts in order to illuminate the ideological transformations/deformations of her story throughout the centuries and recover "the true story". The intentionally provocative title relates to the contemporary historiographical notion of "false" or "fake history", as does the overall conceptual and methodological treatment. Through this reception-oriented approach, this study suggests a new reading of the ancient sources that demonstrates the intrinsically political nature of the murder of Hypatia, caused by the phtonos (violent envy) of the Christian bishop Cyril of Alexandria. This is the first comprehensive treatment of the figure of Hypatia addressed to both academic readers – in Classics, Religious Studies, and Reception Studies – and a learned, non-specialist readership.
Preguntas frecuentes
Información
Part I: Setting out the Facts
No wild beasts are so deadly to humansas most Christians are to each other.
Ammianus Marcellinus
1 Once there was a Woman
There was a woman then in Alexandria, whose name was Hypatia. She was the daughter of Theon, philosopher of the school of Alexandria, and she had reached such a high level of knowledge that she surpassed by far all the philosophers of her circle2 […]
being by nature more gifted than her father, she did not stop at the technical-mathematical teachings he practised, but dedicated herself to pure philosophy, and with merit3 […]
Hypatia outshone her master, particularly in astronomy, and it came to pass that she was the teacher for many in mathematical sciences4 […]
She inherited (diadoche, διαδοχή) the legacy of the teachings of the Platonic school derived from Plotinus and expounded to a free audience all the philosophical disciplines […]. From all parts, they came to hear her those who wanted to study philosophy […]7
She had reached an excellent level in the practice of teaching,
in speaking, she was fluent and dialectical.8
[…] and she made her public appearances in the centre of the city to explain to anyone who wanted to listen to her, Plato, Aristotle or any other philosopher.9
All the knowledge available to the human spirit, gathered in this woman of enchanting eloquence, made her a surprising phenomenon, and I do not mean merely for the people, who will wonder at anything, but for the philosophers themselves, whom it is difficult to astound.10