Hypatia of Alexandria is building all your astrolabes
Hypatia of Alexandria!
“Oh no” you say to yourself. “Not the story of Hypatia.”
AND I GET IT. So sad. Such a very very very sad story (I hope those of you who don’t know it are on the edge of your seat in suspense). But she was also a brilliant, amazing woman, and we should highlight her and never learn the names of any of those assholes who decided she shouldn’t speak anymore. While sites like BrainyQuote attribute some very excellent sayings to her, wisdomofhypatia.com says:
So what, in fact, did Hypatia say? In her book Hypatia of Alexandria (p. 50), Maria Dzielska remarks that the only authentic quotation may stem from the “menstrual napkin incident” (dramatized in The Wisdom of Hypatia, pp. 222–4). Hypatia said, “In truth, this is what you love, young man, but it is nothing beautiful” (τούτου μέντοι ἐρᾷς, ὦ νεανίσκε, καλοῦ δὲ οὐδενός).
If you want to know what the menstrual napkin incident is, it’s that one of her philosophy/astronomy students fell in love with her, so she showed him what Google is pretty sure is in fact a “menstrual rag” and said the above. This is literally the most famous story about her.
But she was incredibly brilliant! She taught philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy! She built astrolabes and hydrometers! I don’t even know what those ARE, but they sound very impressive. Then, in 415 AD, she was dragged by a mob of Christians into a former pagan temple that had been converted into a church and murdered. The reason SEEMS to be there was a rumor that she advised the Roman prefect of Alexandria not to reconcile with the bishop.
But really the point here is that a genius woman in the 400s made the world a little better. So let us hold up her name and kick the dust from our feet to cover the names of those who killed her that they may never be known beyond their time but instead consigned to the near-bottom of the dusty dustbin of history.
HYPATIA.