A famous reference to menstruation is found within the biography of
Hypatia of Alexandria, the philosopher and mathematician who lived in
the early fifth century AD. In response to an amorous student, Hypatia
is supposed to have displayed her underwear stained with menstrual
blood, remarking ‘This is what you are in love with, young man, and not a
thing of beauty'. Hypatia is depicted by ancient writers as idealised
and flawless, the epitome of erudite femininity: she is beautiful but
modest, wise and respected, and an abstemious virgin. However the
romanticisation of Hypatia, shaped significantly by the hindsight
knowledge of her brutal murder, is too absolute; the lines between
fantasy and reality are blurred in the construction of a female
paradigm. Hypatia is ultimately weak, demonstrated by her
self-deprecating exhibition of menstrual blood, and is doomed to die
horribly. This tragic and erotic narrative has gripped ancient and
modern minds alike, reflected in Charles Kingsley's novel Hypatia
(1853) and the pre-Raphaelite production of highly sexualised images of
Hypatia. Hypatia was an important figure in the ancient world and has
become a feminist role model of sorts, but modern critical thought has
not acknowledged, challenged or deconstructed the trend established by
ancient writers which views Hypatia through the distorting patriarchal
lens where the female, when represented at all, is tragic and ill-fated.
This paper intends to contribute a more critical feminist reading to
the representation of Hypatia in the ancient textual sources and her
subsequent reception in modern culture.
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