The Great Myths 9: Hypatia of Alexandria
Hypatia of Alexandria sits alongside Galileo and Giordano Bruno as something of a historical trinity in anti-theistic mythology. She is depicted as a martyr of science and reason, wickedly murdered by religious fanatics, a symbol of lost learning and of the beginning of the Dark Ages. But the distorted story that makes up her modern myth bears little resemblance to actual history and ignores the key contexts for both her life and her assassination. Ever since her violent death in…
