Hypatia of Alexandria

Maria Dzielska's Hypatia of Alexandria is a scholarly biography of the fourth century Neoplatonist philosopher and mathematician, written by a classicist working carefully to separate the historically documented Hypatia from the layered later legend, particularly the popular narrative crediting her murder entirely to Christian religious fanaticism, which Dzielska argues the primary sources support only in part, with genuine political rivalry between the prefect Orestes and Bishop Cyril also a documented factor. Its authority rests on close reading of the surviving ancient sources, including Socrates Scholasticus and other contemporaries, against the later, more elaborated retellings. As a corrective, source-critical biography it is well respected, though Hypatia's murder and its precise causes remain a topic scholars continue to weigh from the same limited ancient evidence Dzielska worked from.