Hypatia: Analysis of Setting
"Hypatia: Analysis of Setting" delves into the vibrant and tumultuous socio-political landscape of Alexandria during the late antiquity period, highlighting the life and influence of the philosopher Hypatia. Founded by the Greeks over 300 years before the Christian era, Alexandria is depicted as a melting pot of cultures, featuring a blend of Greek, Roman, and Jewish influences alongside the emerging Christian community. The city is marked by significant landmarks, including the Museum, a center for Greek philosophical thought and education, where Hypatia delivered her lectures on neoplatonism.
The narrative reveals a city under Roman governance, characterized by a military presence and civil unrest, particularly driven by a Christian population that constitutes a two-thirds majority. This mob, influenced by Archbishop Cyril, plays a pivotal role in the cultural conflicts, leading to the decline of neoplatonic philosophy and the tragic demise of Hypatia. Additionally, the setting includes the contrasting backdrop of Cyrene, where a more cultured church leader, Bishop Synesius, exists, offering a counterpoint to the zealous environment in Alexandria. Through these settings, the analysis captures the interplay of intellectual pursuits, religious fervor, and cultural strife in a historic city that was once a beacon of knowledge and diversity.
Hypatia: Analysis of Setting
First published: 1853
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Historical
Time of work: Fifth century
Asterisk denotes entries on real places.
Places Discussed
*Alexandria
*Alexandria. Egyptian port city founded by the Greeks some three hundred years before the Christian era and named after the great leader and conqueror Alexander. The Greek foundation still survives in Kingsley’s fifth century city in its language, basic town-plan, museum, and lecture halls, where a form of Greek philosophy known as neoplatonism, was expounded, particularly by Hypatia, a young goddesslike and charismatic philosopher. Alexandria also has Roman buildings, notably the Caesarium, now being used by Christians as their main church, and the port, which is crucial to Rome, for through it pass grain supplies and much of Africa’s exported wealth. A Roman military garrison occupies the city, which is governed by a prefect appointed by Rome. The Roman games, or circus, are still used by the prefect to keep the mob on his side.
Two other cultures also compete for influence. Traditionally, Alexandria also had an influential Jewish population, academic and financial by nature. Kingsley shows the devious nature of this influence, and the destabilizing effect when its financial basis is largely destroyed by the mob. The “mob” is, in effect, a Christian one, comprising some two thirds of the city’s population. They are led by Christian monks and church officers under the authority of Archbishop Cyril, the metropolitan of Egypt and third-most powerful figure in fifth century Christendom. The mob also destroys Hypatia and the last remnants of the high culture of neoplatonic philosophy.
A final culture in this restless and violent city is that of the pagan Goths, nomads from northern Europe who still worship their Germanic gods. As nomads, however, their influence in Alexandria is peripheral, unlike elsewhere in the Mediterranean.
Museum
Museum. Place where Hypatia lectures. More a library than a museum in the modern sense, this building includes picture galleries and a series of lecture halls, much like what is termed a university. The museum is the local center of Greek culture, especially its late Platonic forms, which still vie intellectually with newer Christian theologies. It also has a garden. In Museum Street is located the modest house of Hypatia and her father.
Archbishop’s house
Archbishop’s house. Home of the metropolitan of the Orthodox Church; located near the Serapeium and the center of the real power in the city. From here, Kingsley shows, comes good and evil: good in the way that only the church is seen to be dealing with the poverty and disorder in the city; evil, in the way fanatic hatred of “the heathen” is fanned into riots, civil disturbances, and murder. The novel’s cool debates over the merits of Christianity versus Platonism take place in other locations and in contrast to these irreconcilable opposites.
Cyrene
Cyrene (si-REE-nee). North Africa town in what is now Libya that is the seat of Bishop Synesius, who, by contrast to Cyril, is shown to be a cultured and balanced churchman. Cyrene is also the power base of Heraclian, its governor, the count of Africa, whence he launches an ill-fated revolt against Rome. The resulting military weakness allows devastation by the Moorish inhabitants of the hinterland.
Bibliography
Chapman, Raymond. Faith and Revolt: Studies in the Literary Influence of the Oxford Movement. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1970. This book explores the traces that the Oxford Movement left on nineteenth century literature. Three chapters compare and contrast Kings-ley’s and John Henry Newman’s religious views.
Martin, Robert Bernard. The Dust of Combat: A Life of Charles Kingsley. New York: W. W. Norton, 1960. The best biography of the man. A chapter is devoted to Kingsley’s relationship with his publishers, the genesis of Hypatia, and his efforts to publish it in serial and book forms.
Sanders, Andrew. The Victorian Historical Novel, 1840-1880. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1979. A critical examination of a select group of novels written under the influence of Sir Walter Scott, focusing on works by the great midcentury writers. A chapter discusses Hypatia and the rejoinders to it, Fabiola and Callista.
Vance, Norman. The Sinews of the Spirit: The Ideal of Christian Manliness in Victorian Literature and Religious Thought. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1985. Covering the period from the early 1830’s to the late 1860’s, this is an important study of the ways that Victorians attempted to combine various meanings of “Christian” and “manliness.” A chapter compares the attitudes toward celibacy of Kingsley and Newman.
Wolff, Robert Lee. Gains and Losses: Novels of Faith and Doubt in Victorian England. New York: Garland, 1977. This is a comprehensive critical discussion of several hundred novels with religious themes. It has an extensive analysis of Hypatia, and it explores the relationships between that novel and the earlier works by Elizabeth Harris and John Henry Newman.