Hypatia: The Murdered Woman Scientist of Alexandria, 415 AD

Who was Hypatia of Alexandria?

Hypatia was a Neoplatonist philosopher, mathematician and astronomer. She lived in Alexandria, in Roman-era Egypt. Her father was Theon, an Alexandrian mathematician. He is credited with guiding her training in mathematics.

She is remembered today mostly for how she died. In March 415 a Christian group killed her in the city where she had taught for years. That part is documented. Much of what circulates about her online is not. If you have searched for her name, you have probably met both versions. This article keeps them apart.

Where was Hypatia born, and where did she live?

Hypatia was born in Alexandria. She taught in Alexandria. She was killed in Alexandria in March 415. Every stage of her recorded life belongs to one city.

Her birth year is not known. The Oxford Classical Dictionary places the start of her life between AD 350 and 370. That is a twenty-year window. Any page that gives you a single confident birth date is guessing.

The start of her teaching career is also disputed. MacTutor, the mathematics history archive at the University of St Andrews, puts her at the head of the school around the year 400. The Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia gives the 380s. Scholars have not agreed on one date.

What did Hypatia teach?

The core of her teaching was Neoplatonism. This tradition came from Plotinus, a philosopher of the third century. Alongside philosophy she taught mathematics and astronomy.

Students travelled to hear her. They came to Alexandria from Libya, Syria and Upper Egypt. Her classroom was not a closed pagan circle. Among her students was Synesius of Cyrene, a Christian thinker. He later became bishop of Ptolemais. He kept writing to his teacher after he left her school.

What did Hypatia actually write?

The Suda encyclopedia credits Hypatia with a commentary on the Arithmetica of Diophantus, a work of mathematics. Another commentary attributed to her covers the Conics of Apollonius of Perga, a work of geometry.

There is a third trace, this time in astronomy. Theon wrote a commentary on the third book of Ptolemy’s Almagest. In it he explicitly records the contribution of his daughter, the philosopher Hypatia. Scholars disagree about what that note means. Some read it as Hypatia editing Ptolemy’s text. Others read it as Hypatia revising Theon’s own commentary.

Be careful with the word discovery. There is no evidence that Hypatia carried out original mathematical research. MacTutor stresses a different achievement: compiling, editing and preserving earlier mathematical works.

The astrolabe is the most common error. Hypatia is often said to have invented it. The instrument was already in use before her time. Her documented role is narrower. She advised Synesius on building one.

Hypatia’s death: what happened in March 415?

The background was a power struggle. In 412 Cyril became bishop of Alexandria. Authority over the city then set him against Orestes, the Roman governor. While Orestes managed his relations with Cyril, he consulted Hypatia regularly. He also consulted other leading citizens of Alexandria.

The fullest early account comes from Socrates Scholasticus. He was a Christian historian who described the murder in his Ecclesiastical History. According to him, a rumour spread that Hypatia was preventing a reconciliation between Orestes and Cyril. That rumour became the pretext for the attack.

The attack came in March 415, during Lent. The group was Christian and was led by Peter, a reader in the church. They pulled Hypatia from her carriage. They took her to the Caesareum, a church in Alexandria. There they killed her with pieces of pottery. Her torn body was carried to a place called Cinaron and burned.

Who ordered the killing?

You will often read that Cyril ordered the murder. The evidence is weaker than that claim. Damascius, a writer of the sixth century, says Cyril planned it. Socrates, the earlier source, reports no direct order. No surviving evidence proves that Cyril gave the command.

That does not mean Socrates excused anyone. He was a Christian, and he still condemned the act. His words are quoted in the details section below.

What her death did not end

Two myths attach themselves to the year 415. The first links Hypatia’s death to the destruction of the Great Library of Alexandria. This is wrong. The Library no longer existed during her lifetime.

The second myth says philosophy died with her in Alexandria. It did not. Philosophical teaching continued in the city at least until the Arab conquest in the seventh century.

Timeline

1. c. AD 350–370 Hypatia is born in Alexandria. The exact year is unknown.
2. Late fourth to early fifth century: She teaches mathematics and Neoplatonist philosophy in Alexandria. Her students include Synesius of Cyrene, who later becomes bishop of Ptolemais.
3. 412 Cyril becomes bishop of Alexandria.
4. March 415 Hypatia is killed in Alexandria by a group led by Peter.
5. 1908 Jules Maurice Gaspard’s imagined portrait of Hypatia appears in Elbert Hubbard’s fictional biography.

Details you won’t find in guidebooks

• Her student called her mother. In his letters, Synesius addressed Hypatia as mother, sister, teacher and benefactor. Four titles for one teacher, from a bishop to a pagan philosopher.
• She was asked to build a lab instrument. Synesius’ Letter 15 asks Hypatia to have a hydroscope made for him. He wanted a graduated, cylindrical device to measure the specific gravity of liquids. You see the same principle when oil floats on water in a pan. His instrument put a number on that difference.
• A Christian historian condemned the killing. Socrates calls the murder a disgrace to Cyril and to the Church of Alexandria. He states that killing is incompatible with the Christian faith.
• The famous face is fiction. The widely used portrait of Hypatia signed by Jules Maurice Gaspard was drawn for Elbert Hubbard’s fictional biography of 1908. It is an imagined likeness, not a record. If you share it, share it as art.
• Her classroom crossed borders. Her students came from Libya, Syria and Upper Egypt, which shows how far her reputation travelled in her own lifetime.

FAQ

Sources

1. University of St Andrews, MacTutor History of Mathematics — Hypatia mathshistory.st-andrews.ac.uk
2. Oxford Classical Dictionary — Hypatia doi.org
3. Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia — Hypatia, by David Brakke ccdl.claremont.edu
4. Gresham College — Hypatia: Sifting the Myths gresham.ac.uk
5. Diotíma — Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History VII.15 (translation) diotima-doctafemina.org
6. Wikipedia (English) — Hypatia en.wikipedia.org
7. KTH Royal Institute of Technology Library — Hypatia kth.se
8. University of KwaZulu-Natal — thesis on the reception of Hypatia’s life and death researchspace.ukzn.ac.za
9. Wikipedia (Turkish) — Hipatia tr.wikipedia.org

Image: Hypatia (Charles Mitchell).jpg — Charles William Mitchell, Public domain