Emperor And Galilean
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''Emperor and Galilean'' (in ) is a
play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...
written by
Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...
. Although it is one of the writer's lesser known plays, on several occasions Henrik Ibsen called ''Emperor and Galilean'' his major work. ''Emperor and Galilean'' is written in two complementary parts with five acts in each part and is Ibsen's longest play. The play is about the Roman Emperor
Julian the Apostate Julian (; ; 331 – 26 June 363) was the Caesar of the West from 355 to 360 and Roman emperor from 361 to 363, as well as a notable philosopher and author in Greek. His rejection of Christianity, and his promotion of Neoplatonic Hellenism ...
. The play covers the years 351–363. Julian was the last pagan ruler of the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
. It was his desire to bring the empire back to its ancient Roman values. Another crucial and more sympathetic feature of Emperor Julian, is his disliking of his own dynasty, who, in the play at least, were claiming descent and authority for being Galileans, making
Jesus Christ Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...
their own, in terms of ethnicity.


Writing

The play was conceived by Ibsen in 1864. During his four years in Rome (1864–1868) he actively collected historical material, before starting to write the play itself in 1871. It was completed and published in 1873.


Production history

The play was premièred at the Theater der Stadt in
Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
on 5 December 1896. The piece was premiered at the National Theatre in Kristiania (now
Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
) on 30 March 1903. A slightly abridged English translation was made by Michael Meyer in the early 1960s and revised in the 1980s: it has not been performed on stage, though it was broadcast on
BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
on 30 March 1990, with Robert Glenister playing Julian. The first stage performance in English was of a newly created version by Ben Power, given at the National Theatre in London on 9 June 2011: Julian was played by Andrew Scott, with Ian McDiarmid as Maximus. This formed the basis for a two-part audio adaptation broadcast on
BBC Radio 3 BBC Radio 3 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It replaced the BBC Third Programme in 1967 and broadcasts classical music and opera, with jazz, world music, Radio drama, drama, High culture, culture and the arts ...
in 2023, with Freddie Fox as Julian and Siân Phillips as Maxima, a female version of Maximus. Another stage adaptation by Neil Wechsler premiered at Torn Space Theater in
Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...
on Thursday, March 1, 2012, directed by David Oliver, starring Adriano Gatto as Julian.


Themes

Ibsen called the play a "world drama in two parts", addressing the world order, the state of faith and what constitutes an ideal government, intertwining these three issues together with each other, with Julian's personality and with an artistic reconstruction of that historical era. It originates the idea of a "Third Reich", put into the mouth of the philosopher Maximus, as a moral and political ideal formed by a kind of synthesis between the realm of the flesh in paganism and the realm of the spirit in Christianity. The author wrote that the future had to be marked by such a synthesis, seeing that future as a community of noble, harmonious development and freedom, producing a society in which no person can oppress another and that future had to be reached by a revolution in the spirit and an internal rebirth.


Synopsis


Part 1 – Caesar's Apostasy


Act 1

Julian, a cousin of Emperor Constantine II, lives at the court in Christian Constantinople, surrounded by constant surveillance. His mentor, a teacher of theology called Ekivoly, fears the impact the sophist
Libanius Libanius (; ) was a teacher of rhetoric of the Sophist school in the Eastern Roman Empire. His prolific writings make him one of the best documented teachers of higher education in the ancient world and a critical source of history of the Greek ...
might have on Julian and so distributes poems round the city, hostile to Julian and attributed to Libanius. Julian learns the truth about the poems from Agathon, son of a winegrower from
Cappadocia Cappadocia (; , from ) is a historical region in Central Anatolia region, Turkey. It is largely in the provinces of Nevşehir, Kayseri, Aksaray, Kırşehir, Sivas and Niğde. Today, the touristic Cappadocia Region is located in Nevşehir ...
. Constantius announces his will – his heir will be his cousin Gallus, Julian's half-brother – and his banishment of Libanius to Athens. Julian then asks for permission to study in
Pergamum Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; ), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greek city in Aeolis. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north side of the river ...
, which Constantius grants, though thinking it a strange wish. However, unbeknown to Constantius, Julian goes to Athens instead. The first act takes place in Christian
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
, ruled by the emperor
Constantius II Constantius II (; ; 7 August 317 – 3 November 361) was Roman emperor from 337 to 361. His reign saw constant warfare on the borders against the Sasanian Empire and Germanic peoples, while internally the Roman Empire went through repeated civ ...
. There the play's main character, Constantius' young cousin prince Julian, is under constant surveillance; the city's inhabitants are very divided as to what is correct Christianity; the emperor's court is corrupt. For his part, Julian is a searching soul and wants answers to the central questions of life. He is visited by his childhood friend Agathon, who is an honest Christian. Julian, on the other hand, is in love with ancient Greece and asks himself why Christianity has destroyed the beauty of Greek thought. He follows his teacher Libanius to Athens. Agathon, on the other hand, tells Julian about a vision he has had – he believes that this referred to Julian and Julian agrees, in that it showed God designating him to "break with the lions".


Act 2

The second act takes place in
Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...
, where Julian talks with Libanius, in whom he soon loses interest, and with the Church Fathers
Basil of Caesarea Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great (330 – 1 or 2 January 379) was an early Roman Christian prelate who served as Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia from 370 until his death in 379. He was an influential theologian who suppor ...
and
Gregory of Nazianzus Gregory of Nazianzus (; ''Liturgy of the Hours'' Volume I, Proper of Saints, 2 January. – 25 January 390), also known as Gregory the Theologian or Gregory Nazianzen, was an early Roman Christian theologian and prelate who served as Archbi ...
, who become less and less of an influence on him. These three are all members of the intellectual circle which has gathered around Julian as he becomes popular in the Greek Academy, running rhetorical discussions and logical debating. Julian becomes disenchanted with his teacher and does not think he has found what he was really looking for – that is, the truth. He hears rumours of a mystic named Maximus, and Julian decides to leave Athens to find him.


Act 3

This act takes place in
Ephesus Ephesus (; ; ; may ultimately derive from ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, in present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of Apasa, the former Arzawan capital ...
, where the mystic Maximus has set up a mysterious symposium for Julian to communicate with the other world and thus find out the meaning of his life. Here Julian first encounters a voice in the light, telling him that he must "establish the kingdom on the freedom road". The voice also states that "Freedom and necessity are one" and that Julian will do "what he will have to do". The voice says no more and Julian is then presented with a vision of the two great deniers,
Cain Cain is a biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He is the elder brother of Abel, and the firstborn son of Adam and Eve, the first couple within the Bible. He was a farmer who gave an offering of his crops to God. How ...
and
Judas Iscariot Judas Iscariot (; ; died AD) was, according to Christianity's four canonical gospels, one of the original Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ. Judas betrayed Jesus to the Sanhedrin in the Garden of Gethsemane, in exchange for thirty pieces of sil ...
. The third great denier is still in the land of the living and Maximus will show Julian no more. Immediately news arrives that Gallus, heir to the imperial throne, is dead and that Julian has been appointed Caesar of the Roman Empire. Julian takes this as a sign that he will establish the kingdom referred to in the vision.


Act 4

This act occurs in
Lutetia Lutetia, ( , ; ) also known as and ( ; ; ), was a Gallo-Roman culture, Gallo–Roman town and the predecessor of modern-day Paris. Traces of an earlier Neolithic settlement () have been found nearby, and a larger settlement was established ...
, where it turns out that Julian has made himself unpopular with the emperor because of a misconception by a local tribal chief who came to pay him tribute as "Emperor". Gallus is suspected of trying to murder the emperor and removed, thus clearing Julian's way to power. He marries Helena, Constantius's sister and
Constantine the Great Constantine I (27 February 27222 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was a Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337 and the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He played a Constantine the Great and Christianity, pivotal ro ...
's daughter, but he does not enjoy his family life for long – Constantius' assassins poison Helena in a conspiracy and in her delirious dying moments she reveals to Julian that she had loved his dead brother and that she had committed treason against Constantius. The soldiers backing Julian then convince him to go to Constantinople and seize power.


Act 5

The act takes place in Vienne, where Julian is waiting for news of the intrigues around the emperor's sick-bed and updates from the mystic Maximus. The act is a long struggle, which ends in Julian finally making a complete rejection of Christianity in favour of pure
neo-Platonism Neoplatonism is a version of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a series of thinkers. Among the common i ...
. It ends with him making an offering to
Helios In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, Helios (; ; Homeric Greek: ) is the god who personification, personifies the Sun. His name is also Latinized as Helius, and he is often given the epithets Hyperion ("the one above") an ...
as he is proclaimed emperor of the Roman Empire.


Part 2 – The Emperor Julian

After becoming emperor, Julian reveals his commitment to paganism. He calls for tolerance, but Christians quickly begin to destroy pagan temples, and the pagans retaliate. Julian, believing he has a destiny, leads an army against the Persians. He is tricked into burning his ships, and his army is defeated. Julian is killed, and we hear the army rejoicing that the new Emperor is a Christian.


Characters


Part 1


Part 2


References


Other sources

*Moi, Toril (2006) ''Henrik Ibsen and the Birth of Modernism'' (Oxford University Press) *Ferguson, Robert (1996) ''Henrik Ibsen: A New Biography'' (Richard Cohen Books) *McFarlane, James (1994) ''The Cambridge Companion to Ibsen'' (Cambridge University Press)


External links


The Ibsen Society of America official website


{{DEFAULTSORT:Emperor And Galilean 1873 plays Cultural depictions of Julian (emperor) Plays by Henrik Ibsen Plays set in the 4th century Plays set in ancient Rome Works about pagan restorations