_Hypatia_ married, yet said to die a Maid. _Isidorus_, her Husband, the
most eminent Philosopher of his Time.
It would be as great a Prodigy in Nature as _Hypatia_ was herself, if a
Lady of such Beauty, Modesty, Wisdom, and Virtue, were not by many
eagerly sought in Marriage: And, in Effect, we find that she was
actually married to the Philosopher _Isidorus_, tho’ _Suidas_ says she
died a Maid; which is not so irreconcilable a Thing, as People may be
apt to imagine on first Thoughts, but, as we shall shew, very likely to
be true. This _Isidorus_ succeeded _Marinus_ in the School, and his
_Life_ has been written by _Damascius_, one of _Theon_’s Scholars, who
therefore had all imaginable Opportunities to know whatever regarded
_Hypatia_ and _Isidorus_. His _Life_ was abridged by _Photius_, but we
have it not so perfect as he left it; for besides the extreme Confusion
and Incorrectness which appears thro’ the whole, the learned _Valesius_
gave the World Expectations, that he would, one Time or other, publish
it twice larger than that we read now in _Photius_. However, in such as
it still is, _Damascius_ bestows such Elogies on _Isidorus_, as put him
almost above Humanity; yet, no way concerning _Hypatia_, I pass them
over in Silence. I frankly confess, that I more than suspect many of the
Things he reports as knowing that _Damascius_ was a great Visionary,
and, like _Philostratus_ with respect to _Apollonius Tyaneus_, designed
to oppose _Isidorus_ to those Christian _Saints_, who were celebrated
for their miraculous and supernatural Attainments. But this ought not to
affect his Credit in Matters of an ordinary Nature, and therefore I do
not in the least hesitate to believe him, when he positively affirms
that _Hypatia_ was Wife to _Isidorus_.