2-1-Q Chapter 4
LIL 120 A – Fall 2024
Professor Cripps
2 – Offer 2 Specific Details from the chapter. For each ID/quote add 3-8 sentences of your own explanation.
Pages 91-93: Hypatia (huh-pa-tee-uh). Greenblatt talks about how Hypatia was revered amongst society as a highly intellectual and successful woman. Men would seek her out to gain her approval over their writings and findings, scientific or philosophical. They agreed with her, worshiped her. Then when Christianity was born, and Hypatia sided with Orestes’ (aw-reh-stays) refusal to expel the city’s jewish population, she was branded a witch, after rumors that her passion and pursuit of knowledge in a more intellectual way was sinister for a woman. As soon as I read this portion of the chapter, my mind immediately went to the Salem Witch Trials, and how the same thing happened: women were subject to accusations based on their gender and work they pursued. I mean beyond general misogynistic views that prevailed during that time, I thought that Hypatia’s circumstance of death seemed very coincidental with the rise of the new religion, Chrisitanity.
This chapter as an entirety and specific details that follow my explanation/thoughts:
In this chapter, Greenblatt suggests–based on historical data, events, and opinions–that Christianity basically caused the disruption of peace amongst humanity by suppressing classical ideas. That is the restraining of intellectual freedom, bodily pleasures, and pursuit of knowledge–primarily Epicureanism–which we see were central to Greco-Roman philosophy since the beginning of this book.
Christians were determined to snuff out the Pagan religion and therefore attacked and dismantled the Serapeon. Palladas, a pagan poet, talks about how the destruction signified a way of life dying: the way of life that allowed freedom of expression and valued intellectual intelligence.
Christianity demonized paganism, imbedding children and other members of society how it could bring sinful ideas and eternal damnation for those who sought out the religion or works by Pagan authors. An example, Greenblatt gives, is Jerome, a scholar, who talks about his infatuation with pagan works and how “God” gave judgment and whipped him for acting in sinful ways. He then went to settle in Bethlehem and created the New Testament.
Greenblatt also explains that after Christianity became the official religion of many empires, the biggest fear that led to abdication was ridicule. And then explained the elaborate ways punishment was inflicted upon “sinners”. Like rolling in sharp thorns and stinging nettles until all one could feel was pain, and bled.
I just thought that this whole chapter was ridiculous, but also kind of ironic and funny to me: the blame was put on the Christians for the destruction of a more peaceful and intellectual society. Granted, any empire during that period of time, especially the Romans, had violent tendencies and gory stories of conquest, but Greenblatt takes time and care in elaborating the increase in violence and unrest after Christianity emerges. It just reminded me of the unrest amongst religions seen all around our world today. And it also reminds me a lot of the area I live in. Not the violence, but the dispute between religions, or christians and non-religious people within our town–the differences in perspective and order of importance on things related to the well-being and functioning of our community and population.
1 – Make 1 Connection to Self, to World, or to Text – or Extended by offering a little detail about something mentioned in the text (some light research needed to Extend)
Connection to World: “It is for this reason that an Alexandrian ruler, Ptolomey Philadelphus, is said to have undertaken the expensive and ambitious project of commissioning some seventy scholars to translate the Hebrew Bible into Greek. The result–known as the Septuagint (after the Latin for “seventy”) –was for many early Christians their principal access to what they came to call the Old Testament.” (pg. 88, para 1, last two sentences). I had to quote the entire two sentences instead of shortening/abbreviating them because it is so profound and almost demented to me. When reading this chapter and watching the violent faith-fueled conflict between Christianity and Hebraism, all I could think about was the more relevant–to my time– genocide by Hitler in WWII. Though knowing the phrase, “history repeats itself”, it was not surprising to learn of past massacres and pursued genocide of Jews by Christian empires in early CE eras, as explained and shown throughout the rest of this chapter. What is, and will always be, eerily ironic to me is the fact that Chritstians detested and sought to eradicate the culture and people that their religion was initially based on. Ptolomey literally wrote the Old Testament by translating the Jewish Bible. I understand that this conflict is complex and multifaceted in theological, social and political factors, but still, the logical part of my brain, not understanding or being devoted to any specific religion, and therefore may not carry the ability to conceptualize the deep and integrated, negative feelings Christians had on a religious and spiritual level towards Judaism, I don’t see the appeal of religious massacre/hatred.
Q – Give us a Good Question to chew on – 1-3 sentences
I guess I don’t quite understand. Why was it so important for society to be forced to follow a particular set of structures and way of life that was the religion, Christianity? It’s obviously seen throughout this chapter that in doing so, the population experienced more individualized pain. Was this influenced solely by the ruling party in order to impose obedience? Why did the masses agree with this transition of life so quickly?
