Editing Hypatia (section)

===Career===
Hypatia was a Neoplatonist, but, like her father, she rejected the teachings of [[Iamblichus]] and instead embraced the original [[Neoplatonism]] formulated by [[Plotinus]].{{sfn|Watts|2008|page=192}} The [[Alexandrian school]] was renowned at the time for its philosophy, and Alexandria was regarded as second only to Athens as the philosophical capital of the Greco-Roman world.{{sfn|Castner|2010|page=49}} Hypatia taught students from all over the Mediterranean.{{sfn|Castner|2010|page=20}} According to Damascius, she lectured on the writings of [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]].<ref name="socrates">{{citation|title= Ecclesiastical History|author=Socrates of Constantinople|author-link= Socrates of Constantinople |url =http://www.earlychurchtexts.com/public/socrates_the_murder_of_hypatia.htm}}</ref><ref name="suda" />{{sfn|Bregman|1982|page=55}}{{sfn|Cameron|Long|Sherry|1993|pages=49–50}} He also states that she walked through Alexandria in a ''tribon'', a kind of cloak associated with philosophers, giving [[impromptu]] public lectures.{{sfn|Oakes|2007|page=364}}{{sfn|Dzielska|1996|page=56}}{{sfn|Haas|1997|page=311}}

[[File:Letter of Synesius to Hypatia b2.jpg|thumb|Original Greek text of one of [[Synesius]]'s seven extant letters to Hypatia from a 1553 printed edition]]

According to Watts, two main varieties of Neoplatonism were taught in Alexandria during the late fourth century. The first was the overtly pagan religious Neoplatonism taught at the [[Serapeum]], which was greatly influenced by the teachings of [[Iamblichus]].{{sfn|Watts|2008|page=200}} The second variety was the more moderate and less polemical variety championed by Hypatia and her father Theon, which was based on the teachings of [[Plotinus]].{{sfn|Watts|2008|pages=200–201}} Although Hypatia was a pagan, she was tolerant of Christians.{{sfn|Bregman|1982|pages=38–39}}{{sfn|Cameron|Long|Sherry|1993|pages=58–59}} In fact, every one of her known students was Christian.{{sfn|Cameron|Long|Sherry|1993|page=58}} One of her most prominent pupils was [[Synesius of Cyrene]],{{sfn|Castner|2010|page=49}}{{sfn|Watts|2017|pages=67–70}}{{sfn|Waithe|1987|page=173}}{{sfn|Curta|Holt|2017|page=283}} who went on to become a bishop of [[Ptolemais, Cyrenaica|Ptolemais]] (now in eastern [[Libya]]) in 410.{{sfn|Curta|Holt|2017|page=283}}{{sfn|Watts|2017|page=88}} Afterward, he continued to exchange letters with Hypatia{{sfn|Waithe|1987|page=173}}{{sfn|Curta|Holt|2017|page=283}}{{sfn|Dzielska|1996|p=28}} and his extant letters are the main sources of information about her career.{{sfn|Waithe|1987|page=173}}{{sfn|Curta|Holt|2017|page=283}}{{sfn|Banev|2015|page=100}}{{sfn|Watts|2017|pages=88–90}}{{sfn|Bradley|2006|page=63}} Seven letters by Synesius to Hypatia have survived,{{sfn|Waithe|1987|page=173}}{{sfn|Curta|Holt|2017|page=283}} but none from her addressed to him are extant.{{sfn|Curta|Holt|2017|page=283}} In a letter written in around 395 to his friend Herculianus, Synesius describes Hypatia as "... a person so renowned, her reputation seemed literally incredible. We have seen and heard for ourselves she who honorably presides over the mysteries of philosophy."{{sfn|Waithe|1987|page=173}} Synesius preserves the legacy of Hypatia's opinions and teachings, such as the pursuit of "the philosophical state of [[apatheia]]{{mdash}}complete liberation from emotions and affections".{{sfn|Dzielska|1996|page=53}}

The Christian historian [[Socrates of Constantinople]], a contemporary of Hypatia, describes her in his ''Ecclesiastical History'':{{sfn|Booth|2017}}

{{blockquote|There was a woman at Alexandria named Hypatia, daughter of the philosopher Theon, who made such attainments in literature and science, as to far surpass all the philosophers of her own time. Having succeeded to the school of Plato and Plotinus, she explained the principles of philosophy to her auditors, many of whom came from a distance to receive her instructions. On account of the self-possession and ease of manner which she had acquired in consequence of the cultivation of her mind, she not infrequently appeared in public in the presence of the magistrates. Neither did she feel abashed in going to an assembly of men. For all men on account of her extraordinary dignity and virtue admired her the more.<ref name="socrates" />}}

[[Philostorgius]], another Christian historian, who was also a contemporary of Hypatia, states that she excelled her father in mathematics{{sfn|Waithe|1987|page=173}} and the lexicographer [[Hesychius of Alexandria]] records that, like her father, she was also an extraordinarily talented astronomer.{{sfn|Waithe|1987|page=173}}{{sfn|Booth|2017|page=141}} Damascius writes that Hypatia was "exceedingly beautiful and fair of form",{{sfn|Booth|2017|page=117}}{{sfn|Deakin|2007|page=62}} but nothing else is known regarding her physical appearance{{sfn|Booth|2017|pages=116–117}} and no ancient depictions of her have survived.{{sfn|Booth|2017|page=116}} Damascius states that Hypatia remained a lifelong [[Virginity#Ancient Greece and Rome|virgin]]{{sfn|Booth|2017|pages=128–130}}{{sfn|Watts|2017|pages=74–75}} and that, when one of the men who came to her lectures tried to court her, she tried to soothe his lust by playing the lyre.{{sfn|Deakin|2007|page=62}}{{sfn|Watts|2017|page=75}}{{efn|Using music to relieve lustful urges was a [[Pythagoreanism|Pythagorean]] remedy{{sfn|Watts|2017|page=75}} stemming from an anecdote from the life of [[Pythagoras]] relating that, when he encountered some drunken youths trying to break into the home of a virtuous woman, he sang a solemn tune with long [[spondee]]s and the boys' "raging willfulness" was quelled.{{sfn|Riedweg|2005|page=30}}}} When he refused to abandon his pursuit, she rejected him outright,{{sfn|Deakin|2007|page=62}}{{sfn|Watts|2017|page=75}}{{sfn|Booth|2017|page=128}} displaying her bloody [[Sanitary napkin#History|menstrual rags]] and declaring "This is what you really love, my young man, but you do not love beauty for its own sake."<ref name="suda" />{{sfn|Deakin|2007|page=62}}{{sfn|Watts|2017|page=75}}{{sfn|Booth|2017|page=128}} Damascius further relates that the young man was so traumatized that he abandoned his desires for her immediately.{{sfn|Deakin|2007|page=62}}{{sfn|Watts|2017|page=75}}{{sfn|Booth|2017|page=128}}