The murder of ancient Alexandria's greatest scholar - Soraya Field Fiorio

Dive into the life of one of Ancient Rome’s most powerful figures, Hypatia of Alexandria, a renowned scholar and political advisor to the city's leaders.

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In the city of Alexandria in 415 CE, the bishop and the governor were in a fight. It started with a disagreement over the behavior of a militia of monks, and ended with an accusation of witchcraft leveled against one of the most powerful figures in the city: Hypatia, philosopher and advisor to the city’s leaders. Who was Hypatia and why was she deemed a threat? Soraya Field Fiorio investigates.

Lesson by Soraya Field Fiorio, directed by Biljana Labovic.

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[onlyonemitch]

I think this is why most students hate math. They never found passionate teachers who made them see the beauty of it. They made it seem like a mundane, complicated long thought-provoking process. When in actuality it was a form of scientific art.

[hafsa]

Ted Ed narrators always have a nice voice

[rememberify]

The ending was so somber. The death of a educated creative individual sparked the decline of the mindset she fostered in that part of the world. I'm elated that we as a species care enough about the world to relearn these ideals. But it's tragic that progress could be stunted in such a real was due to a twisted political maneuver.

[sujalkoirala]

Father was a mathematician. Mother was unknown. Her mother must be x.

[Joeyblondewolf]

Messed up how most religious Christian people back then break one of the most important laws... Thou shall not kill....

[basicbot]

I felt particularly bad, when the narrator said they dragged her body, such a lovely soul lost to religious extremism..

[aryandivyanshu]

"Numbers were the sacred language of universe."
Hypatia was so correct.

[brane]

"I am still learning"

- Michelangelo, age 87

[netowner]

"Murdered and dismembered"

Well that wasn't very Christian of them, was it

[cuItcore]

“Reserve your right to think, for even to think wrongly is better than not to think at all.”

- Hypatia

[konstantinostoulou]

Sometimes, while watching videos of this kind, i wonder where humanity would have reached if it wasn't for all these primitive minds, holding back the bright.

[adorablepomme]

I’m so curious to know how developed the world would have been if Alexandria’s knowledge, scholars and facilities survived. Who knows what Hypatia’s writings or those burnt library books consisted off, and how many new discoveries this world would behold if hypatias students and teachings thrived on.

[dspiritlight]

So in other words, blind faith in religion and looking down on women, destroyed a city of once great learning?
Sounds like times didn't change much.

[ΓιώργοςΚοντογεωργίου-γβ]

Two significant corrections:

i) Some of the works of Hypatia have survived! Specifically, her edition of tome III of the Almagest, as well as much of her commentary on the Arithmetics (saved for posterity by the Arabs).
ii) Logic and mathematics weren't just the "language of the universe" for the neoplatonists; they were a way to approach the divine.

[duchi]

*When you realize*
Many of the things in Alexandria is either killed or burned

[kayodeorunsolu]

Your animations are so amazing you never cease to amaze me

[BelieviXComeOn]

these kinda videos make me want to time travel so badly, so I can go back and tell these figures what legacy they will have left behind ... and also hug them.

[royina]

I rarely get emotional while watching any movie or TV show but the line: " dragged her from her carriage brutally murdered and dismembered her " got me upset and emotional. By doing this the monks literally snatched away knowledge and wisdom that she could provide us with if she were to be alive . Who knows what discoveries she would make in the coming years. Another example of how people's irrational beliefs can take away something valuable from the rest of humanity..

[tamald]

Read about her in Carl Sagan's Cosmos. The way Sagan described her murder and how it has affected the history of science and pursuit of knowledge for generation to follow has got me broken hearted.

[qwertyslapil]

Your silence will not protect you. Speak.