Hypatia: The True Story

Silvia Ronchey

Published by De Gruyter 2023

Hypatia

The True Story

Silvia Ronchey

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783111245751

Overview
Contents

About this book

Now in Paperback

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.

Revised edition in paperback.

Uses a multidisciplinary approach combining textual criticism, reception studies, and history of women
First sustained investigation of the Nachleben of Hypatia in Modernity
Brings to light the political dimension of Hypatia’s murder

Author / Editor information

Silvia Ronchey, University of Rome 3, Rome, Italy.

Reviews

"Silvia Ronchey’s original study of Hypatia, which came out over twenty years ago, set a new standard for the biography and impact of this famous philosopher and mathematician, and launched what the author calls 'an explosion of interes' (21). This new expanded edition in English, with updated bibliography, is therefore a particularly welcome addition to thegrowing number of books on Alexandria and its leading schools in the fourth and fifth centuries." Judith Herrin in: The Byzantine Review, 2022, https://www.uni-muenster.de/Ejournals/index.php/byzrev/article/view/3860/3916

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Author’s Note Publicly Available Download PDF	VII
Preface Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	XIII
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I: Setting out the Facts
1 Once there was a Woman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	5
2 The Destruction of the Serapeum Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	12
3 Elegant Insolence Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	18
4 The Terrible Patriarch of Alexandria Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
5 Good Use of Power Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	30
6 Treacherous Zeal Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	34
The Bishop of Nikiu Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	38
8 A Three-Handed Game Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	41
9 The Intimidation of Orestes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
10 Mortal Envy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	51
11 The Cover-Up Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	59
Part II: Betraying the Facts
12 The Glory of Her Own Sex and the Wonder of Ours Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	65
13 The Excesses of Fanaticism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	69
14 A Very Beautiful and Well-educated Woman is Torn Asunder Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	74
15 From Fielding to Gibbon Passing Through the Shadow of a Donkey Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	79
16 The Catholic Wing Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	83
17 Refreshing Exceptions Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	89
18 Uncontrolled Effects on the Poets Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	94
19 New Faces For Old Foes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	100
20 Kulturkampf. Hypatia à la Bismarck Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	104
21 Celestial Virgin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	108
22 Miraculous Devotion. Chateaubriand, Péguy and the Flourishing of Feminist Literature Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	114
23 Superfluous Heroisms Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	121
24 The Forces of the Universe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	125
25 A Name, a Mantra Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	127
Part III: Interpreting the Facts
26 May the Witnesses Return to the Court Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	133
27 The DNA of the Ancient Tradition Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
28 Church and State Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	141
29 An Age of Anxiety Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	144
30 Hypatia in All Her States of Being Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
31 What Did Hypatia Teach? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	157
32 All Synesius’ Mysteries Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	167
33 Synesius, Hypatia and Philosophia Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
34 Women Who Philosophised Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	180
35 The Power of Hypatia Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	185
36 Dramatis Personae Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	191
37 Hypatia’s Sacrifice Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	195
38 The Martyrdom of Hypatia Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	200
39 A Question of Method Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	203
40 The Eminence of Hypatia Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	205
Aftershock: And What If… Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	217
Index of Names Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	250

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Edition: 2nd rev. ed.
Audience: Scholars, graduate students, and general public interested in Classics, Religious Studies, Late Antiquity, History of Women
Pages
- Front matter: 15
- Main content: 259
Keywords: Hypatia of Alexandria; reception studies; late antiquity; Cyril of Alexandria

eBook

Published: September 18, 2023
ISBN: 9783111245751

Paperback

Published: September 18, 2023
ISBN: 9783111245539