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Morte de Hipátia coloca sob a forma de drama as circunstâncias que conduziram ao bárbaro assassinato, por fanatismo religioso, de Hipátia (370-415), filósofa pagã e astrónoma, matemática e professora, a única mulher que dirigiu, na Antiguidade, a Academia de Alexandria. É esta a data que os historiadores convencionaram (juntamente com o encerramento da Academia platónica de Atenas, em data próxima desta) para início simbólico da Idade Média. Ainda que se trate de uma livre recriação da tragédia de Hipátia, num exercício activo de imaginação dramática, procurei fidelizar alguma concordância histórica, consultando as magras fontes biográficas existentes sobre esta personalidade fascinante, bem como sobre outros rostos da época, que com ela se cruzam, e que surgem ou são nomeadas em cena, como sejam: o bispo, e ex-aluno de Hipátia, Sinésio de Cirene (que com ela se correspondeu e cujas cartas chegaram até nós), o governador Orestes, os patriarcas Teófilo e Cirilo de Alexandria, a imperatriz Pulquéria de Bizâncio, ou o gramático Paladas de Alexandria. Tal não impediu a invenção de uma série de personagens ficcionais que permitiram dotar de forma teatral algumas informações historiográficas que me pareceram imprescindíveis para uma recriação cénica com estas características. Inclui-se neste caso a figura da actriz Demétria, esposa de Orestes, cujo confronto com a protagonista proporciona uma evocação do célebre episódio de Orestes, enquanto discípulo apaixonado pela filósofa, bem como permite teatralizar os relatos que apontam uma ligação entre o crime contra Hipátia e a abertura de um teatro em Alexandria, por ordem de Orestes, no exercício do seu cargo de governador da cidade. Fazer de Orestes um dramaturgo a escrever sob o pseudónimo de Aristeu de Tebas é uma das várias invenções a que me entrego, no sentido de prestar tributo, seguindo a palavra de Aristóteles, à universalidade da poesia dramática em detrimento da particularidade do factual histórico (factualidade histórica que, neste caso, em grande parte desconhecemos). As identidades dos jovens alunos da Academia de Hipátia são também invenções em benefício da ficção dramática; sejam eles o escravo liberto Ebâneo, e o judeu Nazário, o espião Kariótis que entrega Hipátia aos sequazes de Cirilo, e a recém-chegada Estela, filha de Sinésio, que contradiz na fábula cénica a notícia biográfica de terem os dois filhos do bispo de Pentápolis morrido na infância. E se bem que os aspectos relacionados com a manutenção do casamento de Sinésio, por este exigido à Igreja para ser admitido como seu prelado, estejam historicamente documentados, o perfil humano da sua esposa, Lavínia, é aqui de minha exclusiva lavra, fazendo face à falta de dados sobre a sua realidade biográfica. Existiu uma versão inicial, publicada em 2004, sob o título de A última lição de Hipátia, com o formato de uma peça extensa em três actos, na qual a dramatização das últimas horas da filósofa de Alexandria, que constituía então o segundo acto, estabelecia um diálogo teatral com uma história de violência escolar ocorrida nos nossos dias. Resolvi agora autonomizar numa peça em um acto aquilo que dizia respeito ao tempo de Hipátia, concretizando uma intenção que alimentava há alguns anos, e que neste momento teve um motivo para acontecer, graças ao incentivo de Susan Rowland, responsável por dirigir a primeira experiência cénica que a obra conheceu, na Universidade de Cornell (Ithaca, EUA), em Agosto de 2010, na tradução inglesa de Alex Ladd. Esta é por isso uma obra inédita sem o ser inteiramente, uma vez que a intervenção fundamental que fiz foi a escrita de um prólogo e de um epílogo que conferissem autonomia dramatúrgica a esta variante breve da peça mais longa que a precedeu. Entre a criação da primeira versão em 2002 e o momento presente, registo a leitura recente que fiz da obra de Maria Dzielska, Hipatia de Alexandria (na edição portuguesa de 2009) que, entre outros aspectos argumentados, defende ser um erro de interpretação documental sustentar que Hipátia teria 45 anos de idade na data em que foi assassinada. A estudiosa polaca propõe, pela primeira vez, a tese de que ela seria bem mais anciã e contaria já 60 anos em 415, quando o crime colectivo teve lugar. Ainda que me pareça plausível a tese de Dzielska, no que respeita à revisão da data de nascimento de Hipátia (antecipada para o ano de 455), não quis desfazer-me da ficção já antes elaborada. Mantenho por isso a fábula de acordo com a tese historiográfica tradicional, que a coloca a morrer na flor dos quarenta anos de idade, tal como o cineasta espanhol Alejandro Amenábar também o viria a fazer no filme Ágora, estreado em 2009, a primeira e notável incursão cinematográfica em torno de Hipátia, na qual esta é interpretada pela actriz britânica Rachel Weisz. O ponto de partida para a escrita da peça foi o poema com que esta encerra, e que, na verdade, pré-existiu a todo o restante texto. Nele dá-se a entender, por exemplo, que o matemático Theon, pai de Hipátia, estaria ainda vivo quando a sua filha é cruelmente arrancada à vida; facto historicamente erróneo que a própria peça contraria. De facto, Demétria, em diálogo com Orestes, refere-se a Theon no passado, fazendo subentender que se trata de alguém já falecido. A personagem de Lucinda refere explicitamente a coexistência de versões divergentes do episódio da morte de Hipátia, presentes na peça e no poema. A figura possível de anima que é Lucinda foi uma máscara juvenil para a autoria da peça, que me concedeu a liberdade criativa e um distanciamento de olhar de que necessitava, no sentido de me afastar de uma reconstituição ditada apenas pela documentação histórica. Através da decisão final de Lucinda, desejei manter a divergência entre o poema e a peça a que ele deu origem, como que acentuando simbolicamente o pouco que sabemos ao certo sobre Hipátia; e daí a necessidade que senti em activar a imaginação dramática, para a poder reinventar numa ficção teatral que procura comunicar connosco pela emoção e pelo pensamento, pelo prazer lúdico da cena e pela intuição, fazedora de símbolos.
ABSTRACT - Death of Hypatia dramatizes the circumstances surrounding the barbaric murder of Hypatia (370-415 AD), the pagan philosopher, astronomer, mathematician, teacher, and only woman director of the Academy of Alexandria in antiquity. Historians typically point to the date of her death at the hands of religious fanatics, in 415, as the symbolic beginning of the Middle Ages (along with the closing of Plato’s Academy in Athens at approximately the same time). Although mine is a free dramatic rendition of Hypatia’s life, I also tried to be as faithful as possible to the historical facts, consulting the meager existing biographical sources on this fascinating woman as well as that of other historical figures of the time who inhabit my play or are mentioned in it, such as: Synesius of Cyrene, bishop and former student of Hypatia’s (whose letters to her have survived); Governor Orestes; the patriarchs, Theophilus and Cyril of Alexandria; Pulcheria, the empress of Byzantium; and Paladas of Alexandria, the grammarian. This did not prevent me from inventing several characters, allowing me to dramatize historical information I deemed essential for a play of this type. A case in point is Demetria, Orestes’ actress wife. Her confrontation with Hypatia helps bring to life the famous run-in Orestes had with Hypatia while he was her love-struck disciple. It also helps dramatize reports that point to a link between Hypatia’s murder and the opening of a theater in Alexandria by order of Orestes in his capacity as governor. Making Orestes a playwright who writes under the pseudonym Aristeus of Thebes is one of several whims I gave in to, in a tribute, of sorts, to Aristotle’s notion that the realm of historical facts is what did happen (the particular) and that dramatic poetry is what may happen (the universal). Of course, it helps that in this case we know so little about what happened anyway. Hypatia’s young students at the Academy are also fictitious and include Ebonius, a freed slave; Nazarius, a Jew; Kariotis, a spy who delivers Hypatia to Cyril’s followers; and Stella, a recent arrival to the Academy and daughter of Synesius (contradicting the historical record that tells us that the Bishop of Pentapolis’ two sons died in infancy). And although Synesius’ demand that the church accept his marriage before becoming prelate is well documented, my profile of his wife, Lavinia, is solely the product of my imagination and addresses the lack of biographical data on her. As a full-length in three acts, under the title of Hypatia’s Last Lesson, the play was first published in Portugal in 2004. In that previous version, the last hours of the philosopher’s life make up the second act, which engages in a sort of theatrical dialogue with a present-day story of school violence. From that full-length came this one-act play about Hypatia, fulfilling an idea I first had a few years ago, which now has become reality thanks to the encouragement of Susan Rowland, responsible for the very first staged reading of this work (based on the English translation of Alex Ladd), in Ithaca (New York State, USA) at Cornell University (Robert Purcell Community Center, Lecture Hall, 11/08/2010). This then is a new play that isn’t entirely new, since I have also added a prologue and an epilogue that help this shorter variant stand on its own, separate from its longer predecessor. In between the first version of my play in 2002 and the present, I had the opportunity to read Maria Dzielska’s Hypatia of Alexandria (in the Portuguese edition, 2009), which argues, among other things, that it is a misreading of the historical record to maintain that Hypatia would have been 45 years old at the time of her death. The Polish scholar proposes -- for the first time - that Hypatia would have been far older and would have already celebrated her 60th birthday in 415 A.D, the year Hypatia was murdered. Although Dzielska’s thesis revising the year of Hypatia's birth (which she moves back to 355 AD) seems plausible, I decided to keep to the original narrative surrounding Hypatia. So my tale follows the traditional interpretation of the historical data, which places her death in the flower of her fortieth year, a choice also made by Spanish filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar in his film Agora (2009), the first and remarkable foray of Hypatia into cinema, where she is played by British-born actress Rachel Weisz. My starting point for writing this play was the poem that ends it and that actually pre-dates the rest of the text. In this poem we are given to understand that the mathematician Theon -- Hypatia's father -- was still alive when his daughter’s life was cruelly taken from her, which would be historically inaccurate and is contradicted by the play itself. In fact, Demetria, in a scene with Orestes, refers to Theon in the past tense, leading us to understand that he was already dead at the time. Lucinda explicitly makes reference to the existence of differing versions of Hypatia’s death in the play and in the poem. Lucinda -- an anima-like being -- is a teenage mask I created for myself as the author, giving me the creative freedom and distance I needed in order to avoid writing a play informed merely by the historical evidence. Lucinda’s decision at the end of the play allowed me to maintain these divergent versions of Hypatia’s fate, underscoring symbolically how little we know for sure about this woman philosopher. It was this uncertainty that triggered in me the desire to resort to dramatic imagination to reinvent Hypatia as a character in a play, one that seeks to communicate with us by way of emotion and ideas, by theatrical playfulness and by intuition, maker of symbols.
ABSTRACT - Death of Hypatia dramatizes the circumstances surrounding the barbaric murder of Hypatia (370-415 AD), the pagan philosopher, astronomer, mathematician, teacher, and only woman director of the Academy of Alexandria in antiquity. Historians typically point to the date of her death at the hands of religious fanatics, in 415, as the symbolic beginning of the Middle Ages (along with the closing of Plato’s Academy in Athens at approximately the same time). Although mine is a free dramatic rendition of Hypatia’s life, I also tried to be as faithful as possible to the historical facts, consulting the meager existing biographical sources on this fascinating woman as well as that of other historical figures of the time who inhabit my play or are mentioned in it, such as: Synesius of Cyrene, bishop and former student of Hypatia’s (whose letters to her have survived); Governor Orestes; the patriarchs, Theophilus and Cyril of Alexandria; Pulcheria, the empress of Byzantium; and Paladas of Alexandria, the grammarian. This did not prevent me from inventing several characters, allowing me to dramatize historical information I deemed essential for a play of this type. A case in point is Demetria, Orestes’ actress wife. Her confrontation with Hypatia helps bring to life the famous run-in Orestes had with Hypatia while he was her love-struck disciple. It also helps dramatize reports that point to a link between Hypatia’s murder and the opening of a theater in Alexandria by order of Orestes in his capacity as governor. Making Orestes a playwright who writes under the pseudonym Aristeus of Thebes is one of several whims I gave in to, in a tribute, of sorts, to Aristotle’s notion that the realm of historical facts is what did happen (the particular) and that dramatic poetry is what may happen (the universal). Of course, it helps that in this case we know so little about what happened anyway. Hypatia’s young students at the Academy are also fictitious and include Ebonius, a freed slave; Nazarius, a Jew; Kariotis, a spy who delivers Hypatia to Cyril’s followers; and Stella, a recent arrival to the Academy and daughter of Synesius (contradicting the historical record that tells us that the Bishop of Pentapolis’ two sons died in infancy). And although Synesius’ demand that the church accept his marriage before becoming prelate is well documented, my profile of his wife, Lavinia, is solely the product of my imagination and addresses the lack of biographical data on her. As a full-length in three acts, under the title of Hypatia’s Last Lesson, the play was first published in Portugal in 2004. In that previous version, the last hours of the philosopher’s life make up the second act, which engages in a sort of theatrical dialogue with a present-day story of school violence. From that full-length came this one-act play about Hypatia, fulfilling an idea I first had a few years ago, which now has become reality thanks to the encouragement of Susan Rowland, responsible for the very first staged reading of this work (based on the English translation of Alex Ladd), in Ithaca (New York State, USA) at Cornell University (Robert Purcell Community Center, Lecture Hall, 11/08/2010). This then is a new play that isn’t entirely new, since I have also added a prologue and an epilogue that help this shorter variant stand on its own, separate from its longer predecessor. In between the first version of my play in 2002 and the present, I had the opportunity to read Maria Dzielska’s Hypatia of Alexandria (in the Portuguese edition, 2009), which argues, among other things, that it is a misreading of the historical record to maintain that Hypatia would have been 45 years old at the time of her death. The Polish scholar proposes -- for the first time - that Hypatia would have been far older and would have already celebrated her 60th birthday in 415 A.D, the year Hypatia was murdered. Although Dzielska’s thesis revising the year of Hypatia's birth (which she moves back to 355 AD) seems plausible, I decided to keep to the original narrative surrounding Hypatia. So my tale follows the traditional interpretation of the historical data, which places her death in the flower of her fortieth year, a choice also made by Spanish filmmaker Alejandro Amenábar in his film Agora (2009), the first and remarkable foray of Hypatia into cinema, where she is played by British-born actress Rachel Weisz. My starting point for writing this play was the poem that ends it and that actually pre-dates the rest of the text. In this poem we are given to understand that the mathematician Theon -- Hypatia's father -- was still alive when his daughter’s life was cruelly taken from her, which would be historically inaccurate and is contradicted by the play itself. In fact, Demetria, in a scene with Orestes, refers to Theon in the past tense, leading us to understand that he was already dead at the time. Lucinda explicitly makes reference to the existence of differing versions of Hypatia’s death in the play and in the poem. Lucinda -- an anima-like being -- is a teenage mask I created for myself as the author, giving me the creative freedom and distance I needed in order to avoid writing a play informed merely by the historical evidence. Lucinda’s decision at the end of the play allowed me to maintain these divergent versions of Hypatia’s fate, underscoring symbolically how little we know for sure about this woman philosopher. It was this uncertainty that triggered in me the desire to resort to dramatic imagination to reinvent Hypatia as a character in a play, one that seeks to communicate with us by way of emotion and ideas, by theatrical playfulness and by intuition, maker of symbols.
Descrição
Palavras-chave
Hipátia (370-415) Drama Peça de teatro Hypatia (370-415 AD) Play Dramatic literature
Contexto Educativo
Citação
Editora
Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema do Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa