The Shelves · Miscellaneous writings
Letters
Ἐπιστολαί
Known · Probablein Alexandria?Conjectured · Our reconstructionour placement
I · The entry, in his form
In the table of Miscellaneous writings
Conjectured · Our reconstructionour placementc. 373–414 CE. Studied with Hypatia in Alexandria in the 390s and wrote her letters of devotion all his life, calling her mother, sister, teacher and benefactor. Made bishop of Ptolemais in 410 while still a Platonist.
Letters
Ἐπιστολαί
Opening words not preserved.
Length: not counted
Above, his entry form, filled from what we know. Below, ours.
II · Does it survive? Where to read it
Survives whole
156 letters survive.
Was it in Alexandria?
Known · ProbableA witness to the city.
On the ledge: written elsewhere, a witness to the city; not known in the Library.
Read it today
- FitzGerald, The Letters of Synesius of Cyrene (1926) · a translation · link checked 31 Oct 2026
III · In the show
The show has not yet spoken of this work.
IV · Sources and the living entry
Ancient references (2)
- Synesius, Letters 15, 154
- Synesius, On the Gift (of an astrolabe)
Modern scholarship (3)
- A. FitzGerald (trans.), The Letters of Synesius of Cyrene (London: Oxford University Press, 1926)
- E. J. Watts, Hypatia: The Life and Legend of an Ancient Philosopher (New York: Oxford University Press, 2017)
- M. Dzielska, Hypatia of Alexandria (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995)
Entry checked 31 Oct 2026 · no corrections · Suggest a correction ›
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