The Herstory of Hypatia
A Famous Female Philosopher
Roughly speaking, the Hellenistic religion lasted from about 300 BCE to 300 CE, give or take a century or so. In the wake of that, a girl named Hypatia was born in Alexandria, Egypt (which was part of the Eastern Roman Empire) in the year 355. She was the only child of an ambitious and acclaimed mathematician named Theon, who tutored her quite well in the subject, to say the least. This would allow her to become the first female in history to make a substantial contribution to the development of mathematics. Although written records tell us nothing about her mother, we do know that Hypatia’s father made sure that his daughter received the finest education money could buy. So, as well as becoming a famous legacy geometer, Hypatia received her primary education in the ancient Greek city of Athens, which was the philosophical capital of the Greco-Roman world.
In many ways, she was fated to become a famous female philosopher, right from the start. That is to say, Hypatia was destined to lecture on the teachings of Pythagoras, Plato, Plotinus, and more. As part of that, Hypatia trained as much as she could, as often as possible, both mentally and physically. She strove to become a champion athlete, excelling at running, swimming, and horseback riding. Along with that, she was very intelligent, highly literate, and well versed in…
