Remembering Hypatia: A Novel Of Ancient Egypt

by Brian Trent

On a November night in Egypt, 414 A.D., one of history's most brilliant individuals was assassinated. Her name was Hypatia, teacher and scientist of the fabled Great Library of Alexandria and the last glimmer of hope before the Dark Ages.

The Roman Empire is crumbling, the fragments of the classical world regrouping in Egypt when Thasos, son of an ill-fated scholar, meets Hypatia of Alexandria. Astronomer, mathematician, and philosopher at a time when women were shunned from learning, Hypatia is a daring visionary in a world about to change forever.

As an insidious power-struggle erupts between church and state Hypatia finds herself at the forefront of battle, but she is not alone. Those who cherish her, who will remember her, become her allies - including the powerful Governor Orestes, who keeps his consuming love for her as secret as she keeps her feelings from him.

"Remembering Hypatia" is a vivid retelling of a now-forgotten historical tragedy, when courage stood against fear, when the legacy of the wise vanished in the dark. Author Brian Trent resurrects the ancient world's most famous metropolis and explores the final days, not just of a brilliant mind, but of a lost era. . .

BASED ON THE TRUE STORY

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Egypt, Historical, Novels, Alexandria, Ancient

279 pages, Paperback

First published February 23, 2005

Reviews

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5. The author's take on Hypatia, the pagan woman philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer of 4th and 5th century Alexandria, a city known for its religious tolerance, as well as for the Great Library. Hypatia teaches there and single-mindedly pursues her science. She does have high placed friends, a lawyer, Governor Orestes, a general, and the group's elder Synesius of Cyrene. This group has studied at the Library.
Religious intolerance gets out of hand at the instigation of Cyril the Archbishop. This whole aspect of the novel is an object lesson in the destructiveness of religious fanaticism and the dark path it can follow. The Governor is severely wounded and Hypatia herself is lynched in a gruesome scene. The Library is burned to ashes. A lovelorn student of Hypatia's, Thasos, has stalked and tried to sweet-talk her but she sees through him. He finds his destiny as a wandering scholar.

Characters were mostly black-and-white, but for Thasos' finding his destiny, and Demetria his mother, not a bad woman, but one we can sympathize with: her husband had been under the spell of the Library and neglected her, which she rightfully resents. Orestes was strong and decisive and Cyril dripped with evil. I liked the metaphor of the Pharos, which was dark as Orestes was leaving the harbor; this to me suggested the light of learning being snuffed out. "Reigns" instead of "reins" guiding horses was extremely irritating. This was used several times in the novel. The anachronistic "Red as a tomato" was an added irritant.

[Sam toer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brian Trent chronicles the last days of Hypatia's life. Hypatia was a mathematician, astronomer, and a philosopher who lived in Alexandrea, Egypt and taught in the city's famous great library in the 4th century AD. She was beautiful and intelligent. One of her contemporaries said that many came from a great distance to hear her explain the principles of philosophy, adding that she did not feel "abashed in going to an assembly of men. For all men on account of her extraordinary dignity and virtue, admired her the more." Her beauty, grace, and eloquence were as mesmerizing as her wisdom and philosophies.She never married, choosing instead to pursue her scholarly endeavors and devoting her life to defending and preserving the great Greek tradition of rational thought. centuries before Copernicus and Galileo she struggled to understand the mystries of the cosmos and laws that govern the motions of the planets. She was an esteemed citizen of Alexandria, loved by its populace and respected by its officials. All listened intently when Hypatia spoke. She was caught in the perpetual struggle between the church and state and was murdered by a mob of Christian fundamentalists. Her cruel murder in 415 AD marked the end of humanity’s first Age of Reason and the beginning of the Dark Ages.
Hypatia's life is depicted in the movie Agora, made by Chilean-born director Alejandro Amenábar. It is a powerful and thought provoking film.If you haven't seen the movie or read the book, you have a pleasant treat in store.

[Naleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up this book after listening to Brian Trent being interviewed about it on a podcast (Skeptics' Guide to the Universe). I think my expectations were too high. Trent did a wonderful job during the interview I listened to- he is intelligent and well spoken so I figured that this book would be amazing. Plus, I wanted to know more about Hypatia after revisiting the first part of Carl Sagan's Cosmos recently. The material that Trent chose to work with is fascinating- there is no doubt that many lessons can be learned from the story of Hypatia's life and death (regardless of whether or not her death was truly the end of all free thought in that era or not). My main problem with this novel is that I didn't believe that any of the characters in it really existed with the personalities that Trent had attributed to them. The main character, Thasos, acts like a womanizing frat boy who tries to pick up women in the begining of the novel as if he were in a 21st century bar. Hypatia herself is a very modern woman with very modern (and cliched) thoughts and personal philosophies. I don't know as much as I would like about the history of Alexandria, but I find it hard to believe that these characters are NOT anachronistic in these mentalities. Especially Hypatia. Maybe I am also a little annoyed when male authors try to pin down very female thoughts and feelings and then fail miserably. I don't claim to know what Hypatia was thinking, but it would have been nice to see more complex thought patterns and better character development through out the story. I made it through the book, which was honestly a little tough because by the time Hypatia was killed I had stopped caring about this version of her character.
I would recommend reading this only if the history interests you and you aren't too picky about things like complex characters.
I plan on giving Trent's other writings a try- I believe he has written some non-fiction and I have a feeling that he will succeed much better in that arena.

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'd like to be able to give this book 3*, but I just can't -- my complaints are too many. The book had too many loose threads (subplot with the governor's wife's affair, subplot with Thasos's lover's angry husband) that never really mattered and weren't finished. Even lines of conversation just gave up (I'm fairly sure I know the story the friend started to tell about Hypatia discouraging a suitor, but he never finished it). The villains were one-dimensional. People used the word "okay" in conversation, which always jerks me right out of a historical fiction book, and somebody referenced taking a shower to start a day.

Probably the biggest issue is that for a book about a woman of science and philosophy, centuries ahead of her time, the narration and characters both focus far too much on Hypatia's looks. Nearly all the men lust after her and the narration continually dwells on her beauty and her body. There's even a bathing scene!

Hypatia's story should be told, but this wasn't the book to do it. It gets some points for a half-decent sense of time and place and for the political maneuvering, but that's all.

[Joan Huehnerhoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW. very well presented historical fiction. It meshes very nicely with what I have been reading about the need for both the secular and religious groups. Even though I know how this book ends, it was spell binding from beginning to end!

[Alexis Bonilla Ferrari · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars. Written by a man in big bold letters all across this novel. The real Hypatia deserves a better story than this. This book certainly hyper fixates a lot on her beauty and her body. 0 stars for that. Her intellect should have been fixated on more than her looks. Of course a man would portray Hypatia in a bath scene and of course a man would write other men lusting after her the entire novel. There are entire scenes in this book that are cringy. The bathing scene did nothing for the plot and was not needed.
The real Hypatia would be disappointed to have her story written in such a way.
Despite my dislikes about this book I found the policial and religious turmoil to be written very well. I think the book gave the reader a good look into the turmoil of that time and I did appreciate the historical perspectives in the book.

[Riobhcah · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful account of the woman whose murder by the thugs of Archbishop Cyril of Alexandria precipitated the burning of the Library of Alexandria, extinguishing the light of rational thought and precipitating the dark ages that were to last for a thousand years.

[Yaël · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very entertaining story that unfortunately is not historically reliable. The great library of Alexandria had burned down several centuries before Hypatia was born. So it’s a good story, but remains that, a story.

[Mikayla Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

An inspiring novel based on the true story of Hypatia. She was a woman ahead of her time, philosopher, mathematician, scientist. May we all be forever in the pursuit of knowledge.

[Jesús Oranday · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro increíble, muy bello que, a mi punto de vista, nos da un mensaje de tolerancia a las creencias de los demás.

[Becki Basley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is going to be one of the most personal reviews I have written in awhile. I originally wrote in on my Facebook page and debated about sharing such thoughts on a book review but I decided to share knowing and understanding that it is never the same for anyone esle.

Last on from the book "Remembering Hypatia"
" Tonight, Thasos told his listeners, " the sky will glimmer with stars. Watch them. Realize they are 'something we can understand' You must be an observer of this world! Gather facts and formulate opinions. Build on the works of others, expand on the works of others and expand our understanding of the universe. Because that's our purpose." His voice quivered, and a tear spilled. "That is our future."

Personal note: this is from the heart. I started reading this book because I wanted to expand my knowledge of a woman history had forgotten. But it really has touched me deeply.

It's made more anxious about the parallels with our present time but it's also strengthened my own convictions and dedication to remain a constant student in life. To never stop questioning things I don't understand, to admit my biases and work on chipping away at the narrowmindedness I find in myself along the way.

I am going to spend this next year on as a time of reflection. Not only will I continue my journey toward being a positive person and a more open one but also reading about the lives of philosophers and their schools of thought. To look at it objectively and take what I can from their teachings to be a better person myself..

This book will go down as maybe not one of my most inspiration books I have read in a long time.

[Wes Bishop · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good book. I would recommend this to people who enjoy historical fiction. I am familiar with Trent's work from various essays and articles I have read of his (one which was quite good in the Humanist) but this book does have certain issues.

Sometimes given to the melodramatic, the book is ultimately a polemical work discussing the church vs. science debate/ free thought vs. dogmatic thinking argument we see in our current "culture wars." Many readers would be correct in pointing this out, and it may be a turn-off for some. Yet I am alright with this. I believe Hypatia and her life have many parallels that we can draw from for our own time and I believe Hypatia deserves to be painted in a positive light considering the brutal end her life and work saw(much of her work was destroyed so we are left guessing at her various works) and the Christian mobs and Cyril are very much ready-made, unsympathetic villains if ever there were any. Although viewers of the film Agora would be correct in pointing out that Cyril, in other fictionalized accounts, has been portrayed as both a villain and a more complex and interesting figure than Trent develops.

As I said, ultimately an enjoyable read, hopefully thought provoking to some. I would argue this work can be enjoyed by anyone interested in the time period and figures. Go into it, though, knowing that a modern view of cosmology, secularism, and universal liberal political thought will be used in the novel.

[Meran · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars (see below)

I had always wanted to read this very "moment" in History but had never found a novelization to read, nor anything like it in historical writings and so had given up on reading about it, instead just using my imagination.

Until now. Mr Trent has brought this time and these people to life for me, for you, for all of us. One of the greatest libraries of all time is __real. (We can only guess at what was actually in this library, from references from old, other writings.)

"Cedant arma togae." Let arms (military power) yield to the toga (civil power). Interesting. It's also Wyoming's State Motto.

Hypatia was real, lived in that time, and met an untimely end at the hands of __Christians__, stirred to a "holy" froth by the Cardinal Cyril (also a real person), in Alexandria, Egypt. Not much remains of her actual writings, but she was known as a very knowledgeable woman, a teach at the Library. She is a paragon for intelligent people, everywhere, regardless of gender. The loss of Hypatia and the Great Library propelled Europe and Mediterranean cultures into the Dark Ages with an amazing speed. She was killed in a Christian church, torn apart as if by dogs, by people whose only command from their Messiah was to "Love one another" and in spite of of 1 of the 10 commandments "Through shall not kill."

An awful lot of errors, but very readable, and interesting. That's why the lower rating.

[Aspasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never heard of Hypatia until I watched the movie "Agora" a few months ago. Hypatia was a female mathematician and astronomer in an age when a woman had to walk behind her man in public. Hypatia fully devoted her life to science, never marrying or having children. Brian Trent did a great job of setting the political and religious moods that led to the tragic death and murder of Hypatia. Although this is a work of fiction, true events were the basis for this book.

[Elly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was recommended through a speech at Scientific Sessions from the American Diabetes Association. Very interesting role model!

[Ed Landsberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved it

[Theresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

fair