Confessions in the third semester of a seven-semester sequence. Their previous reading of Greek and Roman epics and philosophical treatises as well as Biblical material equips them with a solid foundation for reading and discussing Augustine. This essay reflects on that preparation and models ways that instructors can use opening discussion questions related to those earlier readings to guide students into substantive reflection on the Confessions.

This process of symbolization, unfortunately, has too often resulted in such distortion of Hypatia's contributions: her mutilation in the streets of Alexandria has generated a continuing violence at the hands of numerous historians. From the sixth-century writings of Damascius to more recent writers like Charles Kingsley, Edward Gibbon, and Carl Sagan, the tragedy of Hypatia's death has been used as an occasion for a miscreant euhemerization that falsifies historical fact, at best in the service of a larger narrative, at worst in the service of propaganda. These tendentious historians present Hypatia as a noble pagan martyr, a sacrificial virgin murdered at the instigation of Cyril, the evil Christian bishop of Alexandria, for her refusal to abandon the religion of the Greeks. She becomes the embodiment of Hellenism destroyed by the onslaught of mindless Christianity, the epitome of the end of the wisdom of the ancients. This rendering of Hypatia's death may be high drama, but it is poor history that does a disservice to Hypatia's real contributions and ignores the continuation of the Alexandrian philosophical tradition after her death. Examination of her significance must begin, therefore, with a refutation of this idealized portrait and then continue with a development of her life and work using more reliable historical sources as well as legitimate inferences that may be drawn from the intellectual and cultural context in which she lived. Unraveling Polemical Knots Attempts to use the death of Hypatia for polemical ends began with the work of the Athenian scholar Damascius, the last head of the Academy before it was closed by Justinian. He wrote in exile, as one of the last of the pagans, and was anxious to exploit the scandal of Hypatia's death. Consequently, he placed responsibility for her death in the hands of Cyril's men so that readers would picture her as the martyr of Hellenism, comparable to the heroized Emperor Julian, who had sought to restore paganism as the religion of the empire and was reportedly killed by a traitorous Christian (Lacombrade, 1978; Chuvin, 1990). But the death of Julian qualifies as "martyrdom" even less than does that of Hypatia. Damascius's views were influential in antiquity; they served as the basis of much of the information in the Byzantine lexicon-encyclopedia known as the Suda that The Beauty of Reasoning No handiwork of Callimachus, Who handled marble as if it were bronze, Made draperies that seemed to rise When sea-wind swept the corner, stands.

Outside of core curriculum programs or Great Books classes, few undergraduates who are not literature majors read and discuss Dante’s Divine Comedy. This paper describes the redesign of a course in the history of Christian theology as a model for integrating the study of Dante into additional contexts within general education. Reading Dante not only as poet but also as theologian can enhance students’ learning and their engagement with medieval theology. A focused reading of Paradiso provides a novel and exciting way for a survey course in historical theology to balance general education’s needs for both breadth and depth. At the same time, reading Dante also helps students to experience the significant intersections of culture and theology in the medieval period.

Who handled marble as if it were bronze, Made draperies that seemed to rise When sea-wind swept the corner, stands. The vagaries of war, decay, accident, and time have effaced more than the handiwork of Callimachus, as W. B. Yeats (1962, p. 159) well knew. As invaders put old civilizations to the sword and their manuscripts to the fire, they destroyed as well the work of countless mathematicians. The contributions of Hypatia, the most famous woman mathematician of antiquity, must unfortunately be counted among that number. The lexicographers record that she produced commentaries on the algebra of Diophantus, the conics of Apollonius, as well as a work entitled The Astronomical Canon. Letters from her students document her ability to construct devices like the hydroscope (hydrometer) and the astrolabe. But no record from her own hand remains. This silence, so emblematic of the contributions of women to mathematics, is poignant enough, but Hypatia’s tragic murder in the mob violence o...