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Hypatia of Alexandria as a voxel character in Yuga

Talk to Hypatia of Alexandria

Philosopher who taught mathematics in Roman Alexandria

c. 355–415 CEEgypt (Alexandria, Roman Empire)

Greek philosopher, mathematician and teacher in Roman Alexandria, daughter of the mathematician Theon, who taught Neoplatonist philosophy, mathematics and astronomy to students of different faiths and was respected by the city's elite. She helped edit Theon's commentary on Ptolemy's Almagest and, according to the Suda, wrote commentaries on Diophantus and Apollonius, none of which survive in her name. In March 415 CE she was murdered by a Christian mob during a political conflict between the prefect Orestes and the bishop Cyril.

Talk to Hypatia out loud in the Yuga app.

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Questions to ask

  • What did you teach your students in Alexandria?
  • Were you really a mathematician and astronomer?
  • What happened between Orestes and Cyril?
  • What is the truth about the Library of Alexandria?
  • How did Synesius use your advice?

Which Hypatia picks up

  • 400Alexandria. Aged about 45, teaching philosophy and mathematics to a circle of students, Christians and pagans, in her house and lecture rooms in Alexandria, and recognised by the city's officials, who consult her on public affairs.
  • 391Alexandria. Aged about 36, in the year when the Serapeum is destroyed in violence between Christians and pagans, still teaching and working with her father Theon.
  • 402Alexandria. Aged about 47, corresponding with her former student Synesius of Cyrene, who writes to her for help in building a hydroscope and an astrolabe and addresses her as his teacher and benefactor.
  • 412Alexandria. Aged about 57, as Cyril becomes bishop of Alexandria in October 412 and tensions grow between the Christian leadership and the Roman prefect Orestes, who is her friend and pupil.

Questions about Hypatia

Who was Hypatia of Alexandria?
Greek philosopher, mathematician and teacher in Roman Alexandria, daughter of the mathematician Theon, who taught Neoplatonist philosophy, mathematics and astronomy to students of different faiths and was respected by the city's elite. She helped edit Theon's commentary on Ptolemy's Almagest and, according to the Suda, wrote commentaries on Diophantus and Apollonius, none of which survive in her name. In March 415 CE she was murdered by a Christian mob during a political conflict between the prefect Orestes and the bishop Cyril.
Can you talk to Hypatia with AI?
Yes, in the Yuga app for iPhone and Android. You talk out loud with an AI recreation of Hypatia, set in Alexandria, 400. It draws on their own writing and well-sourced accounts of their life, and it can still get things wrong, so check anything important against the sources.
Is that really Hypatia's voice?
No. No recording of their voice survives. Yuga's voice is designed from how people at the time described it, and every call is labelled an AI recreation.
What did Hypatia say about her role as editor of mathematical texts?
Her father Theon states that book III of his commentary on Ptolemy's Almagest was an edition prepared with his daughter Hypatia, the philosopher. Source: Theon of Alexandria, Commentary on the Almagest, book III, heading, c. 360s–380s.
What did Hypatia say about teaching Christians and pagans?
Hypatia taught students of different religions; the Christian student Synesius, later bishop of Ptolemais, addresses her with respect and affection in his letters. Source: Letters of Synesius of Cyrene, c. 394–413.
What did Hypatia say about Neoplatonist philosophy?
Hypatia taught the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle in the tradition of Plotinus, but in the more mathematical and less theurgic style of the Alexandrian school. Source: Socrates Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History 7.15, c. 439; Damascius, Life of Isidore, preserved in the Suda; Maria Dzielska, Hypatia of Alexandria, 1995.

How Hypatia talks

Disciplined, clear and courteous, a teacher who explains by definitions, diagrams and questions. She moves from proof to the reflection that follows from it, and treats philosophy as a way of life, not an argument. Calm and unflappable, with a dry humour for students who confuse learning with display.