Hypatia,
the last of the Alexandrian scholars recorded by history, was brutally murdered
by a fundamentalist mob in March of 415 AD. Her father Theon, a mathematician,
philosopher, and director of the University (called the "Museum") of Alexandria,
had seen to it that his talented daughter received the best available training in all
conceivable disciplines from rhetoric through music to mathematics. Blessed with physical strength and beauty,
she was by all accounts a model of
rectitude and modesty. It is difficult to exaggerate the
esteem in which she was held by contemporaries, whether in Athens, Rome, or
Alexandria itself.
Though none of her written work has survived, we know that it included books on the mathematics of Diophantus and Apollonius, and probably one on Ptolemy's astronomical system. Even today, these topics would not be accessible to the occasional amateur: they indicate that mathematics must have been Hypatia's major focus. She also made a name for herself as one of the main proponents of Neo-Platonism. It is said that she often donned her "philosopher's cloak" and went among the crowds to philosophise with strangers. The present play takes the liberty of imagining this urge to communicate expanded to the more difficult subject of mathematics -- through theatrical sketches -- motivated by her love for the theatre which is mentioned in some of the writings about her.
Although a play like this cannot avoid distorting history -- for instance, by the use of modern idiom and images -- it will try to respect major facts and events, as far as these are known. What it cannot undertake, however, is to transplant the general outlook and mind-set of these ancient personages faithfully into the present. Fortunately, most of human psychology is fairly constant over time -- though the actions it triggers depend very much on context. This is particularly important to remember in the case of Cyril, Archbishop of Alexandria. Most of Christendom sees in him a Saint -- a champion of Church Unity -- but some commentators on the Hypatia Affair (and later events like the "Lynching of Nestorius") paint his role in darker hues. It seems that in those early times sainthood was not always synonymous with saintliness.
Outside mathematics, the main historical reference for the play is Volume 1 of Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Around 400 AD, events in the Mediterranean world were tumultuous, to say the least, and it would be foolish to try and outline them here. The three forces which clash in the play are: the rising Church, the waning State, and the dying Hellenic Civilisation -- represented by Cyril, Orestes, and Hypatia.
The plot takes place in Cyril's third year as Bishop of Alexandria, a position which appears, at that time, to have been more important than the Sees of Rome or Constantinople. In the play he resolutely but uncomfortably follows the footsteps of his ruthless uncle Theophilus. His fate is to be a man of action, while his temperament would have been more suited to a life of quiet contemplation. In his drive to forge a unified Christian civilisation, he comes down hard on Jews and Christian heretics, and must still fight rearguard actions with Hellenic elements.
Orestes's dilemma is the power vacuum in which he must maintain an appearance of order. Theodosius I -- personal friend to Theophilus -- had been the last emperor who ruled the whole Roman Empire, east and west. In the time of the play, the Eastern Emperor was a boy, the Western one a weakling. Historically, Orestes and Cyril knew each other well enough that they could have been friends, had not Hypatia -- according to some of her detractors -- bewitched the former.
Hypatia's dilemma is caused by her enormous mathematical talent, which keeps pulling her into the ivory tower, and her political instinct, which tells her that the fate of Civilisation will be decided on street and market place. She is further motivated by a sense of obligation toward her father Theon. We are still indebted to this father-and-daughter team for some exceptionally valuable scientific work, and it is acknowledged that the daughter on her own ventured into even loftier mathematical fields. What is fictional (but not impossible) is Theon's involvement in the education of both Orestes and Cyril and in the salvaging of treasures from the gutted Serapeum.