Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University English Dissertations Department of English Spring 5-7-2011 Re-Membering Ancient Women: Hypatia of Alexandria and her Communities Cara Minardi Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/english_diss Recommended Citation Minardi, Cara, "Re-Membering Ancient Women: Hypatia of Alexandria and her Communities." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2011. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/english_diss/67 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of English at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in English Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. RE-MEMBERING ANCIENT WOMEN: HYPATIA OF ALEXANDRIA AND HER COMMUNITIES by Cara A. Minardi Under the Direction of Lynée Lewis Gaillet ABSTRACT Re-Membering Ancient Women: Hypatia of Alexandria and Her Communities is a recovery of Hypatia of Alexandria (355-415 ACE) as a skilled rhetorician and instructor of note who taught in Alexandria, Egypt. This work addresses Hypatia as a missing female figure from the history of rhetoric and follows the work of feminist historiographers in the field of Rhetoric and Composition including Andrea Lunsford, Jan Swearingen, Susan Jarratt, and Cheryl Glenn (among others) who note the exclusion of women from ancient schools of rhetoric, yet assert their participation in rhetorical activities. In its recovery of Hypatia, the work recreates the historical milieu of Roman Alexandria including Alexandria‟s ethnically and religiously diverse population. As a woman of Greco-Egyptian decent, Hypatia‟s public work was supported by Egyptian, Greek, and Roman legal and social customs that enabled her to lecture in public and private, administer her own school, and advise high-level political leaders.