Making Myth Podcast
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Making Myth Podcast
#26: Hypatia — Daughter of the Library of Alexandria
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Astronomer, philosopher, and mathematician Hypatia of Alexandria echoes down the centuries through a love of learning. The daughter of the last Librarian of Alexandria, Hypatia committed her life to science and outshone her father in all ways. Some knew her as teacher, others as counsel, some as philosopher. After studying with Plutarch the Younger in Athens and Italy, she taught mathematics at the Neoplatonic School of Alexandria.
Students from across Europe, Asia, and Africa attended her lessons to study the big questions of her time. Hypatia had her students create scientific instruments and carry out the scientific method through experiments. She authored several works, now lost to history, and was known for her new understanding of the rotation of the stars.
Come along with us as we discuss Hypatia's scholarly pursuits, students, and personality in the complex mosaic of ancient Alexandria through history and astrology!
Content Warning: murder, graphic bodily mutilation, extreme misogyny
Sources
Articles:
- Astrodienst Ephemeris for 331 BCE
- "The Legendary Library of Alexandria: History and Rare Treasures" (https://egyptra.com/library-of-alexandria/)
- “The School of Hypatia and the Problem of the Gendered Soul” by Aistė Čelkytė in The Routledge Handbook of Women and Ancient Greek Philosophers
- “Snapshots from the History of Mathematics: Hypatia of Alexandria” by Jenny Ramsden in Mathematics in School, vol. 44, no. 3
Books:
- The Alexander Romance by Anonymous
- Hypatia by JD Arden
- Hypatia: Her Life and Times by Faith L. Justice
- Hypatia of Alexandria for Beginners by Zachary Willis
- Hypatia of Alexandria: Her Context and Legacy edited by Dawn LaValle Norman and Alex Peaks
- Hypatia: the true story by Silvia Ronchey
- The Unforgotten Sisters: Female Astronomers and Scientists before Caroline Herschel by Gabriella Bernardi
- Women in the History of Science: A sourcebook, eds. Hannah Wills, Sadie Harrison, et. al.
Primary Sources:
- Synesius, Letter 016 (https://www.livius.org/sources/content/synesius/synesius-letter-016/)
- Synesius, Letter 033 (https://www.livius.org/sources/content/synesius/synesius-letter-033/)
- Synesius, Letter 081 (https://www.livius.org/sources/content/synesius/synesius-letter-081/)
- Synesius, Letter 124 (https://www.livius.org/sources/content/synesius/synesius-letter-124/)
Websites:
- Astropro Interactive Multimedia Astrology (https://www.astropro.com/)
- Bibliotheca Alexandrina (https://www.bibalex.org/en/default)
- "Does Anything from the Library of Alexandria Still Exist?" (https://www.historyhidden.org/does-anything-from-the-library-of-alexandria-still-exist/#google_vignette)
- “Exoplanet Hypatia” (https://www.go-astronomy.com/exoplanet.php?Exo=36)
- Hypatia Catalog (https://hypatiacatalog.com/hypatia_
- Hypatia of Alexandria (https://www.worldhistory.org/Hypatia_of_Alexandria/)
- "Kom el Dikka: Roman and Byzantine civic complex in Alexandria" (https://www.ancient-history-sites.com/sites/kom-el-dikka/)
- “Neoplatonism” in Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy
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