34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Going behind the curtain . . ., July 30, 2000
This review is from: Hypatia of Alexandria (Revealing Antiquity) (Hardcover)
Those who have an interest in the Fourth Century are familiar with the name Hypatia of Alexandria. Unfortunately she has become a figure of legend and myth. Maria Dzielska's small, short book (106 pages, each about 5-1/2" x 8-1/2" ) first examines the various persons that made her a myth, as well as their motivations. It then goes to the source documents, sorts through the credibility of each, and then redraws our picture of Hypatia. (For example, most encyclopedias give Hypatia's date of birth as about 370. Dzielska builds a strong case that she was born about 15 years earlier than that, and was in her 60's when she was murdered). This book excels in distinguishing fact from fiction - in other words it is a work of historical research. Dzielska also points out where her knowledge ends and her inferences begin. This virtue - once known as humility - also contributes to the value of this book. As one would expect, it has an annotated bibliography ("Sources"), is fully footnoted, and includes a good index. Those whose interest in Hypatia involves "her meaning" may be disappointed; those who want the truth about her will find this a useful piece of research and analysis. Maria Dzielska's book could be used as a sourcebook on HOW historical figures are appropriated for the political or religious agendas of persons less interested in "the facts" than "making a point". This alone makes it of wider interest than it might otherwise appear.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Hypatia of Alexandria, September 11, 2005
For those who have never heard of Hypatia the back of this book gives you a quick summary of the woman:
'Hypatia - brilliant mathematician, eloquent Neoplatonist, and a woman renowned for her beauty - was brutally murdered by a mob of Christians in Alexandria in 415. She has been a legend ever since.'
This book is thin (106 pages, an additional forty to fifty provide sources, notes, and an index yet, despite its size, it manages to pull together a summary of Hypatia's life from the texts of the time by people lsuch as Socrates Scholasticus and Synesius.
Essentially, it's an interpretation of these historical texts that reconstructs who Hypatia was, how she lived, and why she was brutally murdered.
The book begins by examining the enduring legend of Hypatia by looking at the literary references in which she is portrayed (19th Century novels, and poetry) and continues to examine her by looking at the people who lived around here. Moving on, Dzielska looks at Hypatia herself from trying to determine the year of her birth to describing the terrible death to which she succumbed and, looks at who - ultimately - was responsible.* After looking at Hypatia, the author resolves the woman's history and offers a conclusion to her book.
It was certainly an interesting book in both the uncommon subject matter and the way that the life within was completely reconstructed from writings of the day as none of Hypatia's work is believed to exist anymore. It does not cover life in Alexandria or describe the Great Library but, as the title suggests, this is not about Alexandria - there will, no doubt, be books on that topic.
It's worth reading if a) you have an interest in philosophy or mathematics; or b) you are a feminist looking for a new heroine. (She was, afterall, the only major female of scientific note prior to Marie Curie.)
* She was stripped naked, dragged through the streets to a church, where many proceeded to strip the flesh from her bones using broken pottery. Her remains were then tossed on a fire.
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24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A realistic view of Hypatia, June 30, 2000
I had placed this book on my wish list because it came to my attention through a friend with similar interests. He generously sent it to me, and I must say I enjoyed it. This is probably more for the individual interested in how historical research is done than for someone looking for an indepth account of the lady's life. Although it will give you a very realistic assessment of her life and times in the two concluding chapters, it gives a scholarly assessment of available primary resoureces as its foundation before doing so. And rightly so, since as the first chapter makes abundantly clear, a lot of sentimental nonsense has been written about the person of Hypatia on next to no basis at all. More than anything the character of Hypatia that is presented by these authors has been designed to illustrate some point of importance or some axe to grind by that individual author. Her actual personality and life history become secondary to those goals as she becomes the center of parable.
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