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On page 92, Greenblatt states, “Rumors began to circulate that her absorption in astronomy, mathematics, and philosophy–so strange, after all, in a woman–was sinister: she must be a witch, practicing black magic.”I found it interesting how for the most part–philosophical and scientific ideas were accepted when men presented them. However, when women such as Hypatia present ideas within the same realm, they are either not acknowledged or punished. What shocks me about the situation is that the people who punish her fail to put her intelligence in context to her environment–specifically who her father was. Her father was Theon of Alexandria, a prominent scholar and mathematician, so really, is it any surprise that she is intelligent? Additionally, the extreme measure they went in regards to her punishment is wild to me as she was beaten and killed so gruesomely. Yet the kicker of it all, is that Cyril–the man who led the hatred against Hypatia is now a sacred figure (93). 

It was intriguing to read about how the ideology of Epicurus and Lucretius contradicted with Christian beliefs–specifically, in regards to the topic of pleasure and indulgences. In epicureanism, they emphasize giving into urges. As mentioned in the text, “Lucretius had urged the person who felt the prompting of sexual desire to satisfy it”. Particularly, Lucretius and Epicurus reinforced this idea as they believed that the gods themselves participated in self-indulgence and neglected their followers’ needs. On the contrary, in Christianity, they lived a borderline sadistic lifestyle where they would inflict themselves with wounds–believing that it would please the gods or satisfy their own personal pleasures. For example, a story about Saint Benedict involves him throwing himself into a thorn bush for the reason that his bleeding skin served “to drain the poison of temptation from his body.”. At the end of the story, it was believed that he was relieved of his sins as a result of his actions (103). 

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I found a world to text connection between the ideologies of Christians and the behaviors of many individuals. The Christians believed that life was something unpleasurable and that pain was something that was expected to experience within life. Additionally, they would compare their punishments. This relates to how many people have a pessimistic outlook on life and appear to “search” for negativity in their own life. While I agree that life is far from perfect or fair– but I think it’s important to take time to acknowledge the positive aspects of life. I feel as if, in our society, sometimes it can almost turn into a competition of how tired or miserable you are. This results in an apathetic society. 

Q-How different or advanced would our society be if the Library of Alexandria was not burned down?