Baroness von Gunther

Hypatia Pt 1*

As Lovely as Aphrodite, as Wise as Athena.

These words appear on the splash page of every Golden Age Wonder Woman that Marston wrote. They always remind me of another woman who invariably is described the same way, Hypatia of Alexandria. Hypatia was a Neoplatonist philosopher, born circa 355CE in Alexandria, Egypt. She was Alexandria’s most famous teacher at the turn of the fifth century. According to contemporary sources, she was brilliant, beautiful, and one of the most respected individuals in Alexandria.” In her book, Hypatia of Alexandria, Maria Dzielska writes that “high officials … who assumed the burden of public responsibilities in Alexandria paid early calls on Hypatia as one of the foremost people of the city (38).”

She had the political acumen to advise the rulers of the city while remaining officially detached from affairs of state. Students came from all parts of the Greco-Roman world to study mathematics and philosophy with her. For a woman to have that kind of power in a truly cosmopolitan city, a city where peace was always tenuous, is a testament to her skill and wisdom. She wielded her power behind the scenes, managing to stay out of danger by not publicly favoring any side over another.

Sadly, she is more famous today for the brutal nature of her death than for any of her accomplishments in life. In 415CE, she was pulled out of her carriage, dragged to the Caesarium, and flayed to death by a Christian mob. Some consider her a pagan martyr. In the intervening centuries, the brutality of her death and the subsequent romanticisation of her life have obscured Hypatia the person as well as the accomplishments that made her both famous and alternately beloved and reviled in her own time.

Wonder Woman too was beloved and reviled, both in the comic and in the United States. Clearly, the Japanese and German spies whose plots she foiled were against her. Those who were good, liked and admired her. She was no less divisive in the US. Meant to be an ideal role model, she was clearly drawn for the male gaze. Her skimpy outfits, and those of other Amazons, raised eyebrows in and out of the comic itself. There were some that protested, but she was an instant hit with almost everyone. Strong, brave, and wise, traits she shares with Hypatia, Wonder Woman was a new kind of role model that women and girls could look up to. She showed young girls as no one else could, that they, too, could be and do whatever they tried to do.

Such strength and wisdom attracted both admirers and detractors, sometimes even violence. While the violence in the comic was fake, it mirrored the real violence of World War II, as well as the violence used against Hypatia and strong, educated women in every place and time. There is no evidence of physical violence toward Hypatia until her death, yet she had her verbal detractors. She was called a witch and was accused of practicing magic. Wonder Woman, too, was called a witch and worse in the comic. They were feared by those who did not understand them, like most strong women today, a subject I will explore in my next post.

*I have copied word for word a paper I previously wrote for this piece.*