IFIY.PNTIA, daughter of Theon, an astronomer and mathematician of Alexandria, and head of the Neo-Platonic school 'ill that city, was b. in the latter part of the 4th century. She was equally remarkable for her beauty, her wisdom, and her tragic fate. From her earliest youth, she exhibited an amazing intelligence, in consequence of which, her father, one of the most erudite savants of his time, resolved to give her genius a thoroughly philosophic culture. She succeeded her father in the chair of philosophy at Alexandria; and the fame of her lectures drew round her students from all parts of the east where the influence of Greek thought and knowledge was felt, Hypatia seems to have been worthy of the lofty eulogies she has received. Amid the wide-spread cor ruptions of Alexandria she lived as spotless as a vestal; and if her teaching was not one that could lay a strong hand on the vices of heathenism, and arrest their course, It was at least sufficient not only to preserve herself from pollution, but also to inspire her with a love of beauty, truth, and goodness, that was Christian in its spirit anti earnestness, ir heathen in its form and limitations. The citizens of Alexandria were proud of her; and such reliance was placed on her judgment and sagacity, that the magistrates u,ed frequently to consult her on important cases. Among those who were most intimate
with her was Orestes, prefect of the city. At this time the bishop of Alexandria was Cyril (q.v.), a fierce hater of heathens' and heretics. Detesting Orestes, whom he suspected of being no true Christian, and who had drawn up an accusation against him for exciting a tumult, he soon cast an evil eye on Hypatia, whom he regarded as a satanic enchantress, and the grand obstacle to his reconciliation with the pre fect. His hatred communicated itself to the lower clergy, and especially to certain savage monks from the Nitrian deserts, Who, headed by one Peter, a reader, attacked Ilypatia in the streets as she was returning from her lecture-room. The maiden was dragged from her chariot, hurried to the Caesarian church, where she was stripped naked, and murdered with tiles, after which she was torn to pieces, and her limbs carried to a place called Cinaron, and there burned to ashes, 415 A.D. Hypatia is the heroine of Charles Kingsley's Hypatia, or INrew Foes with an Old Face.