Susan Wessel
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199268467
- eISBN:
- 9780191699276
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199268467.003.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Early Christian Studies
This chapter discusses Cyril's early episcopacy, including his polemical confrontation with Jews, pagans, and Arians. By these polemics, Cyril forged his distinctly Alexandrian vision of ...
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This chapter discusses Cyril's early episcopacy, including his polemical confrontation with Jews, pagans, and Arians. By these polemics, Cyril forged his distinctly Alexandrian vision of Christianity, which favoured simple, repeatable formulations of the creed. During this time, too, Cyril borrowed Athanasius' anti-Arian discourse which Cyril made relevant once again in his later controversy with Nestorius. The first section of this chapter discusses Cyril's election and the Novatians. The second section looks at Theophilus' actions against the Tall Brothers and John Chrysostom. The third section considers Cyril's conflict with the Alexandrian Jews. The fourth section examines the murder of the renowned pagan and neo-Platonist philosopher Hypatia. The fifth section considers the lingering problem of Arianism.Less
This chapter discusses Cyril's early episcopacy, including his polemical confrontation with Jews, pagans, and Arians. By these polemics, Cyril forged his distinctly Alexandrian vision of Christianity, which favoured simple, repeatable formulations of the creed. During this time, too, Cyril borrowed Athanasius' anti-Arian discourse which Cyril made relevant once again in his later controversy with Nestorius. The first section of this chapter discusses Cyril's election and the Novatians. The second section looks at Theophilus' actions against the Tall Brothers and John Chrysostom. The third section considers Cyril's conflict with the Alexandrian Jews. The fourth section examines the murder of the renowned pagan and neo-Platonist philosopher Hypatia. The fifth section considers the lingering problem of Arianism.
Lawrence Moonan
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198267553
- eISBN:
- 9780191683282
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198267553.003.0003
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
This chapter examines the earliest available passages in which the Power Distinction itself is being recognisably used. Towards the twelfth century appears a new class, of magistri: in the feudal ...
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This chapter examines the earliest available passages in which the Power Distinction itself is being recognisably used. Towards the twelfth century appears a new class, of magistri: in the feudal world but not quite of it, tonsured as a rule but not to be regarded as clerics first and foremost. Through this movement of the Masters, however, rigorously argued philosophy came back to the market-place where the midwife's son had brought it to vigorous life, and where Hypatia had sold it to the passers-by. The pupils of the Masters were no longer claustrales but scholastici, who compared products and were themselves prepared to move, either singly or en masse, not only to other Masters but to other market-places, in order to find what they thought they wanted.Less
This chapter examines the earliest available passages in which the Power Distinction itself is being recognisably used. Towards the twelfth century appears a new class, of magistri: in the feudal world but not quite of it, tonsured as a rule but not to be regarded as clerics first and foremost. Through this movement of the Masters, however, rigorously argued philosophy came back to the market-place where the midwife's son had brought it to vigorous life, and where Hypatia had sold it to the passers-by. The pupils of the Masters were no longer claustrales but scholastici, who compared products and were themselves prepared to move, either singly or en masse, not only to other Masters but to other market-places, in order to find what they thought they wanted.
R. Netz
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780198152484
- eISBN:
- 9780191710049
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198152484.003.0011
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter examines who the Greek mathematicians were by taking an imaginary group picture taken at a conference of ancient Greek mathematicians — a conference held in heaven, so that everyone is ...
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This chapter examines who the Greek mathematicians were by taking an imaginary group picture taken at a conference of ancient Greek mathematicians — a conference held in heaven, so that everyone is present, from classical times down to late antiquity. For this purpose, a mathematician is defined as one who has written down an original mathematical demonstration, no matter in what context. Two well-documented women in this group are Hypatia and Pandrosion. It is probably relevant that both of these examples are from late Alexandria, a place and a time where many old barriers were brought down. In general ancient women did not live strictly according to the expectation of either classical society or modern scholarship, and they were not always ‘silent’. The Greek mathematicians did not have faculties and conferences, a fact reflected by their form of presentation and ultimately by the contents of their mathematics.Less
This chapter examines who the Greek mathematicians were by taking an imaginary group picture taken at a conference of ancient Greek mathematicians — a conference held in heaven, so that everyone is present, from classical times down to late antiquity. For this purpose, a mathematician is defined as one who has written down an original mathematical demonstration, no matter in what context. Two well-documented women in this group are Hypatia and Pandrosion. It is probably relevant that both of these examples are from late Alexandria, a place and a time where many old barriers were brought down. In general ancient women did not live strictly according to the expectation of either classical society or modern scholarship, and they were not always ‘silent’. The Greek mathematicians did not have faculties and conferences, a fact reflected by their form of presentation and ultimately by the contents of their mathematics.
Edward Watts
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520244214
- eISBN:
- 9780520931800
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520244214.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
This study of the men and ideas of late antique education explores the intellectual and doctrinal milieu in the two great cities of Athens and Alexandria from the second to the sixth centuries. It ...
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This study of the men and ideas of late antique education explores the intellectual and doctrinal milieu in the two great cities of Athens and Alexandria from the second to the sixth centuries. It sheds new light on the interaction between the pagan cultural legacy and Christianity. While previous scholarship has seen Christian reactions to pagan educational culture as the product of an empire-wide process of development, the book crafts two narratives that reveal how differently education was shaped by the local power structures and urban contexts of each city. Touching on the careers of Herodes Atticus, Proclus, Damascius, Ammonius Saccas, Origen, Hypatia, and Olympiodorus; and events including the Herulian sack of Athens, the closing of the Athenian Neoplatonic school under Justinian, the rise of Arian Christianity, and the sack of the Serapeum, this book shows that by the sixth century, Athens and Alexandria had two distinct, locally determined, approaches to pagan teaching that had their roots in the unique historical relationships between city and school.Less
This study of the men and ideas of late antique education explores the intellectual and doctrinal milieu in the two great cities of Athens and Alexandria from the second to the sixth centuries. It sheds new light on the interaction between the pagan cultural legacy and Christianity. While previous scholarship has seen Christian reactions to pagan educational culture as the product of an empire-wide process of development, the book crafts two narratives that reveal how differently education was shaped by the local power structures and urban contexts of each city. Touching on the careers of Herodes Atticus, Proclus, Damascius, Ammonius Saccas, Origen, Hypatia, and Olympiodorus; and events including the Herulian sack of Athens, the closing of the Athenian Neoplatonic school under Justinian, the rise of Arian Christianity, and the sack of the Serapeum, this book shows that by the sixth century, Athens and Alexandria had two distinct, locally determined, approaches to pagan teaching that had their roots in the unique historical relationships between city and school.
Edward J. Watts
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520244214
- eISBN:
- 9780520931800
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520244214.003.0007
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
The first part of this chapter explores the ecclesiastical and intellectual causes of the Alexandrian Christian community's movement away from the philosophically influenced Christian intellectual ...
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The first part of this chapter explores the ecclesiastical and intellectual causes of the Alexandrian Christian community's movement away from the philosophically influenced Christian intellectual circle. The second part of this chapter examines Alexandrian pagan schools and the role they played in the education of Christians in the second half of the fourth century. Two major strains of Platonic philosophical interpretation contested with one another in later fourth-century Alexandria. These include the Platonism developed by Plotinus and Porphyry and the theurgically influenced interpretation of Iamblichus. The chapter also presents an account of the career of Hypatia, a highly erudite woman who succeeded her father in heading the school which he founded. With its emphasis upon contemplation, Hypatia's training worked in typically Plotinian fashion. In her school, Christian students did not need to worry about their convictions conflicting with their training.Less
The first part of this chapter explores the ecclesiastical and intellectual causes of the Alexandrian Christian community's movement away from the philosophically influenced Christian intellectual circle. The second part of this chapter examines Alexandrian pagan schools and the role they played in the education of Christians in the second half of the fourth century. Two major strains of Platonic philosophical interpretation contested with one another in later fourth-century Alexandria. These include the Platonism developed by Plotinus and Porphyry and the theurgically influenced interpretation of Iamblichus. The chapter also presents an account of the career of Hypatia, a highly erudite woman who succeeded her father in heading the school which he founded. With its emphasis upon contemplation, Hypatia's training worked in typically Plotinian fashion. In her school, Christian students did not need to worry about their convictions conflicting with their training.
Edward J. Watts
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520244214
- eISBN:
- 9780520931800
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520244214.003.0008
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Archaeology: Classical
In the past, independent Christian teachers would have raised challenges to such a strongly pagan curriculum, and the ideas of the Iamblichan teachers would have been attacked in Christian ...
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In the past, independent Christian teachers would have raised challenges to such a strongly pagan curriculum, and the ideas of the Iamblichan teachers would have been attacked in Christian intellectual circles. By the mid-fifth century, however, such circles and their leaders do not seem to have existed in their traditional form. Furthermore, after the negative reactions to the murder of Hypatia, the Alexandrian church had shown little interest in the teachings of Neoplatonic philosophers. Because of this, the conflict between Christianity and Iamblichan teaching was a quiet one. Ultimately, the situation erupted in a violent confrontation that came to involve not only teachers and students but the entire Alexandrian Christian community. This chapter discusses the new breed of Athenian-trained professors teaching in Alexandrian schools, as well as the religious environment within these schools.Less
In the past, independent Christian teachers would have raised challenges to such a strongly pagan curriculum, and the ideas of the Iamblichan teachers would have been attacked in Christian intellectual circles. By the mid-fifth century, however, such circles and their leaders do not seem to have existed in their traditional form. Furthermore, after the negative reactions to the murder of Hypatia, the Alexandrian church had shown little interest in the teachings of Neoplatonic philosophers. Because of this, the conflict between Christianity and Iamblichan teaching was a quiet one. Ultimately, the situation erupted in a violent confrontation that came to involve not only teachers and students but the entire Alexandrian Christian community. This chapter discusses the new breed of Athenian-trained professors teaching in Alexandrian schools, as well as the religious environment within these schools.
Ian Wood
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- January 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780199650484
- eISBN:
- 9780191747861
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199650484.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, European Medieval History
Alongside these social and political readings of the period from the fourth to the seventh century there was also a religious one. The religious reaction to the Ancien Régime and the French ...
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Alongside these social and political readings of the period from the fourth to the seventh century there was also a religious one. The religious reaction to the Ancien Régime and the French Revolution was spearheaded by Chateaubriand, whose novel about the Christian persecutions of the early fourth century Les Martyrs was a source of inspiration for a subsequent generation of writers, about all Ozanam, in a number of works on the early Middle Ages, and Montalembert, in his study of monasticism. Following on from the work of Ozanam, the Prince de Broglie wrote a history of the fourth century which prompted major debates with Guéranger, one of the key figures in the Benedictine revival. The Church of the Age of Persecution was also picked up in England in debates between liberal Anglicans like Kingsley and members of the Oxford Movement, like Newman.Less
Alongside these social and political readings of the period from the fourth to the seventh century there was also a religious one. The religious reaction to the Ancien Régime and the French Revolution was spearheaded by Chateaubriand, whose novel about the Christian persecutions of the early fourth century Les Martyrs was a source of inspiration for a subsequent generation of writers, about all Ozanam, in a number of works on the early Middle Ages, and Montalembert, in his study of monasticism. Following on from the work of Ozanam, the Prince de Broglie wrote a history of the fourth century which prompted major debates with Guéranger, one of the key figures in the Benedictine revival. The Church of the Age of Persecution was also picked up in England in debates between liberal Anglicans like Kingsley and members of the Oxford Movement, like Newman.
David Maldonado Rivera
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780520281448
- eISBN:
- 9780520966192
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520281448.003.0015
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
With its 156 letters Synesius’s collection is modest in size when compared with other late antique collections, and there is no doubt that the extant letters are only a fraction of the letters that ...
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With its 156 letters Synesius’s collection is modest in size when compared with other late antique collections, and there is no doubt that the extant letters are only a fraction of the letters that Synesius wrote in the course of his lifetime. As usual, the letters are not ordered chronologically, but key proposographical dossiers are easily identified. Among the forty recipients addressed in the collection, pride of place goes to Synesius’s brother Evoptius, who received a total of forty-one. An anonymous compiler – perhaps his brother Evoptius or another figure close to Synesius – seems to have organized and published Synesius’s letters along with his other works during the second half of the fifth century or early in the sixth century. The traditional stance on Synesius’s epistolary collection characterizes it as a chaotic assemblage, but the existence of thematic currents such as legal concerns, the responsibilities of the nobility, and epistolary style) can be traced.Less
With its 156 letters Synesius’s collection is modest in size when compared with other late antique collections, and there is no doubt that the extant letters are only a fraction of the letters that Synesius wrote in the course of his lifetime. As usual, the letters are not ordered chronologically, but key proposographical dossiers are easily identified. Among the forty recipients addressed in the collection, pride of place goes to Synesius’s brother Evoptius, who received a total of forty-one. An anonymous compiler – perhaps his brother Evoptius or another figure close to Synesius – seems to have organized and published Synesius’s letters along with his other works during the second half of the fifth century or early in the sixth century. The traditional stance on Synesius’s epistolary collection characterizes it as a chaotic assemblage, but the existence of thematic currents such as legal concerns, the responsibilities of the nobility, and epistolary style) can be traced.
Alan Cameron
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780190268947
- eISBN:
- 9780190268961
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780190268947.003.0009
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, Literary Studies: Classical, Early, and Medieval
Hypatia has been regarded historically as a pagan martyr, a great mathematician murdered by Christians, provoked by her outspokenness and jealous of her brilliance. The chapter, however, places what ...
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Hypatia has been regarded historically as a pagan martyr, a great mathematician murdered by Christians, provoked by her outspokenness and jealous of her brilliance. The chapter, however, places what is known of her learning and her public utterances (mostly from Christian sources) in the context of fifth-century Alexandria. It discusses the role of women in late antique society and identifies the few women philosophers. It describes the preparation of texts of ancient mathematical classics, especially Ptolemy’s Almagest, in late antiquity. Hypatia’s father and tutor, Theon, prepared a commentary on the Almagest to which Hypatia may have contributed, and the influence of father and daughter on Synesius, later a Christian bishop, is discussed. Hypatia’s death, brutal as it was, arose out of the anti-Jewish riots of 415 and the feud between patriarch Cyril of Alexandria and the governor Orestes.Less
Hypatia has been regarded historically as a pagan martyr, a great mathematician murdered by Christians, provoked by her outspokenness and jealous of her brilliance. The chapter, however, places what is known of her learning and her public utterances (mostly from Christian sources) in the context of fifth-century Alexandria. It discusses the role of women in late antique society and identifies the few women philosophers. It describes the preparation of texts of ancient mathematical classics, especially Ptolemy’s Almagest, in late antiquity. Hypatia’s father and tutor, Theon, prepared a commentary on the Almagest to which Hypatia may have contributed, and the influence of father and daughter on Synesius, later a Christian bishop, is discussed. Hypatia’s death, brutal as it was, arose out of the anti-Jewish riots of 415 and the feud between patriarch Cyril of Alexandria and the governor Orestes.
