This seems to be a generally good account of the murder of Hypatia, followed by a long interesting discussion.
Comments are no longer open, otherwise I would ask why the Enlightenment historian Gibbon, who was legendary for insisting on primary sources when available, could have gotten it so wrong. In his famous documentary Cosmos, Carl Sagan, who is generally reliable on science, seems to have followed Gibbon's account.
Regardless of the backstory Tim O'Neil (an amateur historian) presents, the truth remains that Hypatia was murdered by an angry Christian mob, and she was a famous "pagan" (i.e., non-Christian) of the day. The only question is whether the Christianity of the mob was in any way a motivating factor. Self-described atheist O'Neil explains Hypatia's murder as an unfortunate consequence of a violent feud between two leading Christians of Alexandria, Cyril--the bishop, and Orestes--the Prefect (a civil authority).
While O'Neil attempts to brush aside Christianity as a motivating factor, the fact remains that Cyril was a more hardline Christian, and that may have been a motivating difference especially among his fanatical followers.
So while one should not blame Christians in general, it does seem that specifically Christian Zealots were to blame.
While I was initially tempted to consider O'Neil authoritative, his erudite deconstruction might be considered primarily spin. It is not wise to trust the self declared orientations of those who raise concerns regarding the narratives of their own alleged tribe. Concern Trolls are to be found everywhere.
However AFAIK the murder of Hypatia had nothing to do with the destruction of the famous Library of Alexandria, which no longer existed in her day. The only partly destructive fire was an unintended consequence of the attack of Julius Caeser hundreds of years before, and by all accounts the Library fell into a slow decline thereafter.
However, Hypatia's temple that was also destroyed by the mob may indeed have contained a small subset of books that we will never see again.
Comments are no longer open, otherwise I would ask why the Enlightenment historian Gibbon, who was legendary for insisting on primary sources when available, could have gotten it so wrong. In his famous documentary Cosmos, Carl Sagan, who is generally reliable on science, seems to have followed Gibbon's account.
Regardless of the backstory Tim O'Neil (an amateur historian) presents, the truth remains that Hypatia was murdered by an angry Christian mob, and she was a famous "pagan" (i.e., non-Christian) of the day. The only question is whether the Christianity of the mob was in any way a motivating factor. Self-described atheist O'Neil explains Hypatia's murder as an unfortunate consequence of a violent feud between two leading Christians of Alexandria, Cyril--the bishop, and Orestes--the Prefect (a civil authority).
While O'Neil attempts to brush aside Christianity as a motivating factor, the fact remains that Cyril was a more hardline Christian, and that may have been a motivating difference especially among his fanatical followers.
So while one should not blame Christians in general, it does seem that specifically Christian Zealots were to blame.
While I was initially tempted to consider O'Neil authoritative, his erudite deconstruction might be considered primarily spin. It is not wise to trust the self declared orientations of those who raise concerns regarding the narratives of their own alleged tribe. Concern Trolls are to be found everywhere.
However AFAIK the murder of Hypatia had nothing to do with the destruction of the famous Library of Alexandria, which no longer existed in her day. The only partly destructive fire was an unintended consequence of the attack of Julius Caeser hundreds of years before, and by all accounts the Library fell into a slow decline thereafter.
However, Hypatia's temple that was also destroyed by the mob may indeed have contained a small subset of books that we will never see again.
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