medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Last weekend, my wife and I rented a recent movie that some listmembers
might be interested in. It is a Spanish production, in English, called
Agora. It is set in late 4th-century Alexandria, which by some
reckonings, anyway, puts it in the early Middle Ages. Through the magic
of computerized animation, the late-antique city of Alexandria is
recreated in predictably impressive fashion. Yet, all this digital
effort is not, as usual, just the scene of some larger-than-life
battleground. There is a modest level of violence, but it is all street
fighting between rival religious groups. What I found very interesting
about this treatment is that it was not, as one might expect, simply
championing the eventual winners of the contest, the Christians. The
fictionalized account, in fact, revolves around a real, if shadowy
historical figure, a female philosopher named Hypatia, whose combined
religious tolerance and interest in science receives the most
sympathetic treatment in the film. I know not how historically accurate
it is, but the portrait painted of Cyril of Alexandria was certainly
less than sympathetic, as was that of the Christian "mob". But so was
the portrait painted of the followers of Serapis. And there were, as
well, sympathetic characters, and crises of conscience, among all
religious groups. Rather than championing a particular faith, the film
attempted to focus on issues such as religious tolerance and
intolerance, and the relation between reiigion and science, religion and
politics, religion and society - with some fascinating resonances of
contemporary religious concerns. We thought it was quite well done, but
I'd be interested in what other listmembers thought of it, particularly
those with a better grasp of that early period. The CD we rented also
contained an interesting documentary on the city of Alexandria, an added
bonus!
Cheers,
Jim
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