Studious Babes
Ray Katz
scurlock at io.com
Sat May 10 20:47:19 PDT 1997
>The guy leading the Christian mob who
>murdered her was. (S. Cyrus? I think it's something with a "C". I
>can't find my lives of the saints either.)
His name was Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, and he is one of my
all-time favorite early Christian bigots.
Hypatia was one of the last of the many great scholars that worked at
the library at Alexandria. she was born A.D. 370 or thereabouts, and
was the daughter of the great mathematician Theon of Alexandria. She
appears to have lectured on the philosophy of Plato, Aristotle, and
Pythagoras, among others, and was therefore regarded by the
Christians of the day as a major protagonist of pagan Neoplatonism.
She was also a close friend of Orestes, who was the pagan prefect of
Alexandria.
Her teachings and her friendship with Orestes provoked the enmity of
Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria. This guy was a notorious Christian
bigot, dedicated to the supression of paganism in all its forms.
In 415, the citizens of Alexandria were endulging in one of their
bi-monthly religious riots, when a Christian mob, led by monks who
were likely under orders from Cyril himself, dragged Hypatia from her
chariot, and according to my source, flayed her alive with clam
shells. Pretty, huh?
Jeremy Scurlock
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