Events leading to her murder Two widely cited but divergent texts describe the feud between Orestes, the prefect (or Governor) of Alexandria and Cyril, the Bishop of Alexandria. The feud and the city-wide anger it provoked ultimately brought about the death of Hypatia. One source, the Historia Ecclesiastica (or Ecclesiastical History), was written by Socrates Scholasticus (who was himself a Christian), some time shortly after Hypatias death in AD 415. Scholasticus gives the more complete, less biased account of the feud between Orestes and Cyril and of the role Hypatia played in the feud that resulted in her death. The other source, The Chronicle,[27] written by John of Nikiu in Egypt around 650 AD, demonizes Hypatia and Orestes directly, while validating all Christians involved in the events Nikiu describes. The Chronicle is more biased on the matter of the historical feud, omitting several points of the narrative that are included in Scholasticuss account.[28] Orestes, the Roman governor of Alexandria, and Cyril, the Bishop of Alexandria, were involved in a bitter feud in which Hypatia became one of the main points of contention. In 415 AD, the feud began over Jewish dancing exhibitions in Alexandria. Because the exhibitions attracted large crowds and were commonly prone to civil disorder of varying degrees, Orestes published an edict that outlined new regulations for such gatherings. When crowds gathered to read the edict shortly after it was posted in the citys theater, it angered Christians as well as Jews. At one such gathering, Hierax, a devout Christian follower of Cyril, read the edict and applauded the new regulations. Many people felt Hierax was attempting to incite the crowd into sedition. Orestes reacted swiftly and violently out of what Scholasticus suspected was jealousy [of] the growing power of the bishops…[which] encroached on the jurisdiction of the authorities. He ordered Hierax to be seized and tortured publicly in the theater. Hearing of Hieraxs severe and public punishment, Cyril threatened to retaliate against the Jews of Alexandria with the utmost severities if the harassment of Christians did not cease immediately. In response to Cyrils threat, the Jews of Alexandria grew even more furious, eventually resorting to violence against the Christians. They plotted to flush the Christians out at night by running through the streets claiming that the Church of Alexander was on fire. When Christians responded to what they were led to believe was the burning down of their church, the Jews immediately fell upon and slew them by using rings to recognize one another in the dark and killing everyone else in sight. When the morning came, the Jews of Alexandria could not hide their guilt, and Cyril, along with many of his followers, took to the citys synagogues in search of the perpetrators of the massacre. After Cyril rounded up all the Jews in Alexandria, he ordered them to be stripped of all possessions, banished them from Alexandria, and allowed their goods to be pillaged by the remaining citizens of Alexandria. With Cyrils banishment of the Jews, Orestes [...] was filled with great indignation at these transactions, and was excessively grieved that a city of such magnitude should have been suddenly bereft of so large a portion of its population. Because of this, the feud between Cyril and Orestes intensified, and both men wrote to the emperor regarding the situation. Eventually, Cyril attempted to reach out to Orestes through several peace overtures, including attempted mediation and, when that failed, in an appeal to Orestess allegiances as a Christian Roman,[29] showing the Gospels to him. Nevertheless, Orestes remained unmoved by such gestures. Meanwhile, approximately 500 monks who resided in the mountains of Nitria, and who were of a very fiery disposition, heard of the ongoing feud between the Governor and Bishop and descended into Alexandria armed and prepared to fight alongside Cyril. Upon their arrival, the monks intercepted Orestess chariot and proceeded to bombard and harass him, calling him a pagan idolater. In response to such allegations, Orestes countered that he was actually a Christian and had even been baptized by Atticus, the Bishop of Constantinople. The monks paid little attention to Orestess claims of Christianity, and one of the monks, Ammonius, struck Orestes in the head with a rock, causing him to bleed profusely. At this point, although Orestess guards fled in fear, a nearby crowd of Alexandrians came to his aid. Ammonius was subsequently secured and ordered to be tortured for his actions. He died of the torture. Following the death of Ammonius, Cyril ordered that he henceforth be remembered as a martyr. Such a proclamation did not sit well with sober-minded Christians, as Scholasticus pointed out, seeing that he suffered the punishment due to his rashness he would not deny Christ. This fact, according to Scholasticus, became apparent to Cyril through general lack of enthusiasm for Ammoniuss case for martyrdom. Scholasticus then introduces Hypatia, the female philosopher of Alexandria and the woman who would become a target of the Christian anger that was inflamed during the feud. Daughter of Theon, and a teacher trained in the philosophical schools of Plato and Plotinus, she was admired by most for her dignity and virtue. Of the anger she provoked among Christians, Scholasticus writes, Hypatia ultimately fell victim to the political jealousy which at the time prevailed. Orestes was known to seek her counsel, and a rumor spread among the Christian community of Alexandria blaming her for Orestess unwillingness to reconcile with Cyril. A mob of Christians gathered, led by a reader (i.e., a minor cleric) named Peter, whom Scholasticus calls a fanatic. They kidnapped Hypatia on her way home and took her to the Church called Caesareum. They then completely stripped her, and then murdered her with tiles. Socrates Scholasticus was hence interpreted as saying that, while she was still alive, Hypatias flesh was torn off using oyster shells (tiles; the Greek word is ostrakois, which literally means with or by oystershells[30] but the word was also used for brick tiles on the roofs of houses and for pottery sherds). Afterward, the men proceeded to mutilate her and, finally, burn her limbs. News of Hypatias murder provoked great public denouncement, not only against Cyril, but against the whole Alexandrian Christian community. Scholasticus closes with a lament: Surely nothing can be farther from the spirit of Christianity than the allowance of massacres, fights, and transactions of that sort. Chronicle, John of Nikiu[31] Bishop John of Nikiu, who lived several hundred years after the events he describes, writes bitterly of Hypatia, claiming that she beguiled many people through (her) Satanic wiles. Orestes, who Nikiu writes was himself a victim of Hypatias demonic charm, regularly honored her and took to abandoning the Christian Church in order to follow her teachings more closely. Moreover, the Bishop claimed that Orestes himself persuaded others to leave the Church in favor of Hypatias philosophical teachings and went as far as to host such unbelievers at his house. One day, Orestes published an edict regarding public exhibitions in the city of Alexandria and all citizens gathered to read the edict. Cyril, curious to see why the edict caused such an uproar, sent Hierax, a Christian possessing understanding and intelligence, who, although opposed to paganism, did as Cyril asked and went to learn the nature of Orestess edict. Meanwhile, the Jews who gathered in anger over the edict believed that Hierax had come only for the sake of provocation (which, according to Scholasticuss text, was Hieraxs intent). Upon this assumption, Orestes had Hierax punished for a crime for which he was wholly guiltless. For the punishment and torture of Hierax, as well as the death of several monks, including Ammonius, Cyril grew increasingly furious with Orestes. (Here, Nikiu blatantly ignores the assault on Orestes by the 500 monks, in which Ammonius played an active role in bringing about his own torture and death.) Cyril then warned the Jews against any further harm upon the Christians. However, with the support of Orestes (which is in no way implied by Scholasticus), the Jews felt confident in defying Cyrils authority, and so one night ran through the streets proclaiming: The church of the apostolic Athanasius (Alexander) is on fire: come to its succour, all ye Christians. The Christians responded to the alarms only to be slaughtered by the Jews in a coordinated ambush. The next morning, all remaining Christians of the town came to Cyril with news of the massacre, after which Cyril marched with them to purge the Jews from Alexandria. In so doing, Cyril allowed the pillaging of their possessions, and soon after purified all the synagogues in the city and made them into Churches (Scholasticus makes no mention of purifying the Synagogues). In the expulsion of the Jews, Orestes was unable to offer them any assistance. Shortly thereafter, a group of Christians, under Peter the magistrate, went looking for Hypatia, the pagan woman who had beguiled the people of the city and the prefect through her enchantments. They found her sitting in a chair, at which point they seized and brought her to the great church, named Caesarion, where they proceeded to rip the clothes off her body. Then they dragged her through the streets of Alexandria until she died and burned her remains. Nikius description of Hypatias death also differs from that of Scholasticus. Following the death of Hypatia, Bishop Cyril was named the new Theophilus. With the death of Hypatia, Nikiu writes, the Christians had expelled the last remnant of pagan idolatry. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypatia
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 23:19:20 +0000
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