Hypatia

By Charles Kingsley

Hypatia is a novel by the English writer Charles Kingsley. It is a fictional account of the life of the philosopher Hypatia, and tells the story of a young monk called Philammon who travels to Alexandria, where he becomes mixed up in the political and religious battles of the day.

The plot revolves around Hypatia the pagan philosopher; Cyril the Christian patriarch; Orestes the power-hungry prefect of Egypt; and Philammon an Egyptian monk. Philammon travels from his monastic, desert community to Alexandria, and expresses a desire to attend Hypatia's lectures despite Cyril's dislike of Hypatia. Although Hypatia has a deep-seated hatred of Christianity, Philammon becomes her devoted friend and disciple. Philammon also encounters Pelagia, his long-lost sister, a former singer and dancer who is now married to a Gothic warrior. Philammon naturally desires to convert both women to Christianity. The plot is played out against the backdrop of Orestes as the scheming prefect who hopes to become emperor of Egypt and Africa, and uses Hypatia as a pawn in his schemes. A subplot involves Raphael Aben-Ezra as a wealthy Jewish associate of Hypatia who falls in love with a Christian girl called Victoria, and converts to win her love. A series of events, some of which are orchestrated by a Jewish woman called Miriam, raise tensions between the Prefect and the Church. Hypatia undergoes a spiritual crisis and comes close to being converted to Christianity by Raphael. Before this can happen however, rumours are spread that Hypatia is the cause of unrest in the city and she is murdered by a Christian mob. Philammon, despondent, returns to the desert where he eventually becomes abbot of his monastery, albeit with a more worldly view of Christianity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookRix
• Release date: Jun 14, 2019
• ISBN: 9783736807020

Charles Kingsley

Charles Kingsley was born in Holne, Devon, in 1819. He was educated at Bristol Grammar School and Helston Grammar School, before moving on to King's College London and the University of Cambridge. After graduating in 1842, he pursued a career in the clergy and in 1859 was appointed chaplain to Queen Victoria. The following year he was appointed Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge, and became private tutor to the Prince of Wales in 1861. Kingsley resigned from Cambridge in 1869 and between 1870 and 1873 was canon of Chester cathedral. He was appointed canon of Westminster cathedral in 1873 and remained there until his death in 1875. Sympathetic to the ideas of evolution, Kingsley was one of the first supporters of Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859), and his concern for social reform was reflected in The Water-Babies (1863). Kingsley also wrote Westward Ho! (1855), for which the English town is named, a children's book about Greek mythology, The Heroes (1856), and several other historical novels.

Reviews for Hypatia

[citizenjoyce · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

For a book that started so well, I was mightily disappointed with the progression and ending of this one. Charles Kingsley does a good job showing the corruption of the catholic church in the 5th century but he completely gets Hypatia wrong. Being a christian he is obsessed with belief, and I think the whole point is that Hypatia's life was devoted to mathematics and astronomy, to finding proofs for reality rather than justification for belief. He has her completely frazzled because she can't convince any of the gods, particularly Appolo or Aphrodite to manifest themselves to her. She is lead astray by the men in her life because she will do anything to get the people to return to worshiping the gods she adors. He even uses the most interesting character in the book, Raphael Oben-Ezra, a skeptical Jew who converts to christianity because he falls in love with a pure woman, to use logic to convince Hypatia that Jesus is god. Then he throws in what is supposed to be a lovely miracle at the end. He also flits over the destruction of the library at Alexandria. Pity.

[p_s_patrick · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Hypatia is a dark, religious, philosophic, and historical novel, bearing a warning in its preface to potential readers of its tragic content. It is set mainly in Alexandria, in the fourth and fifth centuries A.D., at a time when the city was a centre for academia. Hypatia is pagan, believing in the classical gods, and their tradition, but she is a scholar also, teaching and studying philosophy and mathematics, searching for truth. She is also virtuous, and despite her pagan ways is marked out above the rest of the citizens, Christian, Jewish, and the other pagans, who admire her for her numerous qualities. The story deals with the strife between the early church, the pagans, the Roman Empire, and other citizens of Alexandria. There are several politcal and religious conflicts, amongst which Hypatia must try to do the right thing. The book has plenty of messages in it, and a sad end, but there are happy parts too, and it is exciting in places, as well serious. The story is based mainly on real characters, and loosely on historical events, but of course is partly invention to make it an interesting and complete story.