Thread by @TimONeill007

Thankfully, the depiction of Hypatia of Alexandria on *The Good Place* didn't perpetuate any of the usual pseudo historical nonsense about her, even if it was slightly odd. I really cannot see how a Kantian like Chidi would have found the rather mystical neo-Platonism of the ...

... school of Plotinus attractive, though the show did depict her as a childhood hero of his, so maybe he was more into that sort of thing as a kid. Or maybe the writers just didn't do much homework on what neo-Platonists believed. Anyway, if the show didn't boost the myths ...

... about Hypatia, that's more than can be said for some of the commentary about it. Take this piece from *Esquire* which claims it "explains" who she was.
esquire.com/entertainment/…

Firstly she is described as "a feminist scholar", even though we have no idea what her thoughts about the equality of the sexes were and if she was indeed a "feminist" then this would have been remarkable in her society and therefore probably remarked upon.
We are told she ...

... was "among the first female mathematicians" which more or less true. But then we are told she was "among the .... first female academics at Alexandria’s vaunted university". There was no "university" at Alexandria and Hypatia's school was, as with most leading philosophers...

... more of a social circle of disciples and initiates than anything a modern academic would recognise.
But then we get into the gibberish.
"Though herself a pagan, Hypatia was tolerant of Christians"
We assume she was a pagan, but "tolerant of Christians" is a bit rich. ...

She doesn't seem to have merely "tolerated" them - they formed a majority in her social class and her city and so of course she included Christians among her students. Her philosophy was religiously neutral.
Then we get some complete fantasy:
"In the aftermath of Hypatia’s ...

... death, the University of Alexandria was sacked and burned on orders from Cyril, the archbishop of Alexandria."
Really? It's strange then that these dramatic events can be found nowhere outside the imagination of the writer of this piece. But she goes on:
"Pagan temples ...

... were razed; meanwhile, artists and intellectuals left the city in droves."
Gosh. And yet none of this is found in any of the sources. Why exactly "droves" of "artists" would flee this imaginary pogrom is not explained, but I guess when you're making up history as you go ...

... along, in for a penny, in for a pound.
Then the writer gets back to her initial fantasy of Hypatia as a "cutting-edge feminist scholar".
" Hypatia’s views on the rights of women were certainly more forward-thinking than those of Aristotle" we are assured, in a statement ...

... that is based on precisely nothing, given we have no information at all on Hypatia's "views on the rights of women". But I supposed if she can conjure up imaginary "universities", fantasy pogroms against "artists" and fictional razings of temples @adriennemwest can just ...

... conjure some ancient feminism out of thin air as well. Hey, what the heck.
It seems poor Hypatia is doomed to be perpetually lumbered with ideas, beliefs and ideals that should would have found utterly alien.