Synesius of Cyrene
"Synesius was a member of a well-known and rich family of Cyrene, which claimed descent from the half-legendary founders of the city, members of the Spartan royal house. His family's wealth enabled him and his brother Euoptius to travel to Greece (before 392) and study in Alexandria (after 393), where Hypatia introduced them to Neo-Platonism. This philosophy taught that there was one, supreme God, that everything in the universe was in harmony (or ""sympathy"", as it was called), and that God cared for Creation (providence).
Synesius would never cease to believe this, and always remained friends with the wise woman, with whom he continued to exchange lettersnote when he retired to his estate Anchimachus,
studying philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, everything; farming, hunting, having many a brush with hordes of pilfering Libyans; and every now and then upholding the cause of someone who had undeservedly fallen into difficulties
- in short, the life of a Greek or Roman gentleman.
He visited the Academy of Athens, which he found, in comparison to the philosophical school of Hypatia, disappointing. He found the ancient city
like a victim burnt in the sacrificial fire: there remains nothing but the skin to help us to reconstruct a creature that was once alive"".note
Synesius' speech In Praise of Baldness suggests that he was initiated in the Eleusinian Mysteries as well, which were - at that time - falling into decay.note (It is possible that he visited Athens during the three years in Constantinople.)
He visited Alexandria again, where he married a Christian wife, whose name is not revealed in his letters, but for whom he wrote Hymn , which contains many Christian motifs. The ceremony was presided over by bishop Theophilus, patriarch of Alexandria. Clearly, Synesius was not greatly perturbed by the religious differences. This attitude is illustrated in his Letter , to Hypatia, in which he mocks Christian philosophers and empty, pagan sophistry, and states that he wants to adhere to the real truth that reveals itself in several ways. The couple had several children, who were born in Alexandria. His many-sided activity, as shown especially in his letters, and his loosely mediating position between Neoplatonism and Christianity, make him a subject of fascinating interest. His scientific interests are attested by his letter to Hypatia"