tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post2110754222523122858..comments2024-03-30T00:09:27.602+13:00Comments on Not PC: The beautiful lady in the middle: Hypatia of AlexandriaPeter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-90160453404631049842015-12-10T16:56:56.294+13:002015-12-10T16:56:56.294+13:00@Blair
1. Hypatia has no known surviving works. A...@Blair<br /><br />1. Hypatia has no known surviving works. Any quotes attributed to her are speculative at best;<br /><br />Yes, thanks to those who murdered her, along with her works.<br /><br />2. She was a pagan, not an atheist. Pagans were hardly the bastion of civilization against barbarism - they engaged in the ritual slaughter of animals and pimped out slaves to worshippers.<br /><br />She was indeed a "pagan" - a title bestowed on anybody by Christians, who was not a Christian. Hellenistic culture was deemed especially pagan by theocrats, they made no distinction between Aristotelean, Platonic, Epicurean and Stoic philosophers and those who practised the temple cult Greek superstitions. They were all equally condemned.<br /><br />I agree that the Caesars proceeded into hideous persection of Christians, brought to an end by Constantine the Great, but when I consider what happened to Hypatia, it makes me wonder if perhaps Christian persecution was well deserved. And never forget that as Christian theocracy grew more prevalent, they became the heavy persecutors of all other faiths, including different strains of their own. No leg to stand on here.<br /><br />3. The Library of Alexandria was destroyed long before the 5th Century, and what little remained of it was disbursed in 391AD when paganism was outlawed and the pagan temple housing the collection was destroyed;<br /><br />The destruction of the Alexandrian Library is under dispute by history as to its perpetrators. It was probably destroyed in stages, but was still thriving and intellectually alive in its last hoorah during Theon and Hypatia's time.<br /><br />4. Hypatia's death was indeed a disgrace and a tragedy, but context is needed. She got unfairly caught up in Christian retaliation against a Jewish insurrection in the city, where Jews had pretended a church was on fire to ambush Christians and slaughter them. Orestes was (probably unfairly) regarded as having allowed this behaviour, and Hypatia as an associate was therefore attacked. She was seen as being on the side of the murdering Jews.<br /><br />I don't think the context you just drew on should be preceeded by a "but" here. Her death was a disgusting disgrace and tragedy fullstop. The fact that she was caught in the middle of factions is partly why I chose the title "The Beautiful Lady in the Middle". I can see my theme may have been a little a little wasted on you.<br /><br />5. We retain a great number of classical works (although nothing from Hypatia) precisely because Christians preserved them. There was no official policy of destroying classical works, quite the opposite (see Basil the Great: Address to Young Men on Greek Literature). While the Christians did do a lot of book burning, it was mostly Christian heretical works they were interested in (which is why no Arian literature survives today, for example).<br /><br />Christians did not just do a little book burning, they did shit loads - and never ever ever defend any group that acts that way, public policy or not. Of course it was heretical works they were interested in, considering that the term "heresy" was a catch-all condemnation for anything that went against what they called "truth". Do you mean apostate works? Either way, the response of the Bishop to Raphael gives us a good idea of the clergy's official and time-honoured attitude towards Hypatia.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Olivia Piersonhttp://www.oliviapierson.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-24077110887437892862015-12-10T15:42:06.998+13:002015-12-10T15:42:06.998+13:00Short of time, but here's my first reply (I...Short of time, but here's my first reply (I'm sure others will also respond ... )<br /><br />1. There are around 20 pages of primary material related to Hypatia and her teaching. And "although little if any of Hypatia's own work survives, we do have a large volume of extant material from the hand of her best-known pupil, Synesius of Cyrene." This is far more than we have from, say, any of the pre-Socratic philosophers, about whom our opinions can be fairly firm.<br /><br />2. What we do know however is that Hypatia herself neither practiced nor encouraged the ritual slaughter of animals, the pimping out of slaves to worshippers, or the persecution and killing of Christians --who by their behaviour, let's be clear, were little more than the Daesh of their time.Peter Cresswellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-40184148069361062642015-12-10T14:38:33.807+13:002015-12-10T14:38:33.807+13:00There are some things here that are misleading and...There are some things here that are misleading and/or incorrect:<br /><br />1. Hypatia has no known surviving works. Any quotes attributed to her are speculative at best;<br />2. She was a pagan, not an atheist. Pagans were hardly the bastion of civilization against barbarism - they engaged in the ritual slaughter of animals and pimped out slaves to worshippers. Nor were they benign folk with "coexist" bumper stickers on their chariots - until 391AD they had been very active in persecuting and killing Christians a la Daesh, aided and abetted by several emperors, especially Julian;<br />3. The Library of Alexandria was destroyed long before the 5th Century, and what little remained of it was disbursed in 391AD when paganism was outlawed and the pagan temple housing the collection was destroyed;<br />4. Hypatia's death was indeed a disgrace and a tragedy, but context is needed. She got unfairly caught up in Christian retaliation against a Jewish insurrection in the city, where Jews had pretended a church was on fire to ambush Christians and slaughter them. Orestes was (probably unfairly) regarded as having allowed this behaviour, and Hypatia as an associate was therefore attacked. She was seen as being on the side of the murdering Jews.<br />5. We retain a great number of classical works (although nothing from Hypatia) precisely because Christians preserved them. There was no official policy of destroying classical works, quite the opposite (see Basil the Great: Address to Young Men on Greek Literature). While the Christians did do a lot of book burning, it was mostly Christian heretical works they were interested in (which is why no Arian literature survives today, for example).Blairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02865567065778234500noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-13136570800647730812015-12-10T14:12:28.902+13:002015-12-10T14:12:28.902+13:00Wow. That was enjoyable.
SuzukiWow. That was enjoyable. <br />SuzukiAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com