... home of Ptolemy, and for medicine, as Galen had practiced there. The Museum itself was known all over the Roman world as a center of study. It is safe to say then, that Theon raised Hypatia in a world of education and in an environment of thought. From her earliest years Hypatia was immersed in an atmosphere of learning, questioning, and exploration, as Alexandria was the greatest seat of learning in the world. The city was a cosmopolitan center where scholars from all the civilized countries gathered to exchange ideas. Many Roman women during Hypatia's era were cultured and educated, and quite a few were somewhat politically powerful. Unlike the Greek women, they weren't required, nor did they expect, to stay out of public view. It goes to follow then, that the philosophical schools founded by Plato, a philosopher and mathematician named Pythagoras, created a favorable social climate in ...

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