Hypatia : : The True Story / / Silvia Ronchey.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter DG Ebook Package English 2021
• VerfasserIn: Ronchey, Silvia,
• Place / Publishing House: Berlin ;, Boston : : De Gruyter, , [2021]; ©2021
• Year of Publication: 2021
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (XV, 268 p.)

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.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Note of the Author -- Preface -- Contents -- Introduction -- Part I: Setting out the Facts -- 1 Once there was a Woman -- 2 The Destruction of the Serapeum -- 3 Elegant Insolence -- 4 The Terrible Patriarch of Alexandria -- 5 Good Use of Power -- 6 Treacherous Zeal -- 7 The Bishop of Nikiu -- 8 A Three-Handed Game -- 9 The Intimidation of Orestes -- 10 Mortal Envy -- 11 The Cover-Up -- Part II: Betraying the Facts -- 12 The Glory of Her Own Sex and the Wonder of Ours -- 13 The Excesses of Fanaticism -- 14 A Very Beautiful and Well-educated Woman is Torn Asunder -- 15 From Fielding to Gibbon Passing Through the Shadow of a Donkey -- 16 The Catholic Wing -- 17 Refreshing Exceptions -- 18 Uncontrolled Effects on the Poets -- 19 New Faces For Old Foes -- 20 Kulturkampf. Hypatia à la Bismarck -- 21 Celestial Virgin -- 22 Miraculous Devotion. Chateaubriand, Péguy and the Flourishing of Feminist Literature -- 23 Superfluous Heroisms -- 24 The Force of the Universe -- 25 A Name, a Mantra -- Part III: Interpreting the Facts -- 26 May the Witnesses Return to the Court -- 27 The DNA of the Ancient Tradition -- 28 Church and State -- 29 An Age of Anxiety -- 30 Hypatia in All Her States of Being -- 31 What Did Hypatia Teach? -- 32 All Synesius’ Mysteries -- 33 Synesius, Hypatia and Philosophia -- 34 Women Who Philosophised -- 35 The Power of Hypatia -- 36 Dramatis Personae -- 37 Hypatia’s Sacrifice -- 38 The Martyrdom of Hypatia -- 39 A Question of Method -- 40 The Eminence of Hypatia -- Aftershock: And What If… -- Bibliography -- Index of Names