Hypatia As Depicted In The Film 'Agora'

Alexandria, a booming city of Greek culture, was a city built on the philosophies of Aristotle. Ancient Greece was actually a democratic society. But with the rise of Christianity, living and believing however you wanted was a freedom that would soon be challenged on every level, politically and personally in Alexandria. The rising spread of Christianity during this part of history threatened the power structure of the leaders of the time. In the film Agora, the story of Hypatia brings to life the political struggle that religion played in the history of the ancient world. The film, however, paints an unflattering picture of early Christians, and inaccurately depicts the destruction of the library in Alexandria and the death of Hypatia. The rise of Christianity in the ancient world created many problems for leaders at the time. Alexandria had the largest population of Jews. There was a lot of social conflict between the Jews, Christians, and Pagans in the city. The movie shows scenes of mobs of Christians rioting in the streets of

The buildings and statues provide an accurate setting of life in the ancient world. Despite some of the historical inaccuracies, the movie also provides a good example of how the rise of Christianity threatened the leaders of the time. Even though the Christians were portrayed in a negative way, the film demonstrates through the destruction of the library the intentional demolition of pagan temples and shrines that occurred during that time (Mark). Even though Hypatia’s death is not accurately depicted, it is not as brutal as the death she actually experienced. In addition, the film provides many examples of the philosophical thinking that made Alexandria what it is known for in history. Hypatia was a brilliant and beautiful philosopher and mathematician who surpassed even her father’s talents (Dzielska