This is fifth post of Henryk Sienkiewicz’s historical
novel, Quo Vadis.
You can find Post #1 here.
Post #2, here.
And Post #3 here.
And Post #4 here.
Chapters 28 thru 34
Summary
Petronius writes another letter to Vinicuis. He is shocked about the recent happenings with Vinicius, especially of the ability of Ursus to so easily defeat Croton. But he cannot understand the Christians and their religion. He asks Vinicius to meet him in Beneventum with the rest of Nero’s entourage. Vinicius, now back to his home, feels no desire to reply. He is torn about staying in his home or going back to that Christian abode he was nursed. He rejects going to Beneventum entirely and writes to tell Petronius that Christian kindness and forgiveness has moved him, and this has increased his love for Lygia. He tells Petronius that Lygia has run off again because of the impossibility of their relationship. He tells him also of meeting another leader of the Christians, Paul of Tarsus. He tells Petronius that he is thinking of embracing Christianity but there is something in him that revolts at the idea. He tells him of the little crosses Lygia has left for him made out of twigs. He concludes with a confession that the Christians have changed his soul.
Vinicius now lives in his house shut off thinking only of Lygia and the Christians. He senses that Lygia loves him in return, and contemplates receiving baptism to join their community. At home, his soul struggles between his life as a Roman and his potential life as a Christian. In an excursion into the countryside he meets Chrysothemis, a loose upper class Roman woman, who tries to seduce him but which he rejects. In time Petronius returns to Rome and tries to get Vincius to travel abroad to break these doldrums he is in. But Vinicius has no desire. Petronius gets angry at what the Christians have done to him. Petronius, as an Epicurean, tries to entice him with other women. He even shows him the pleasure he receives from his woman slave Eunice. But all this just deepens Vinicius’ desire for Lygia, and he rejects all of Petronius’s enticements and tells Petroinus they no longer understand each other.
Nero, upon returning back to Rome, wants to travel again and yet can’t, wants to change the buildings of Rome and yet can’t. He has become even more of a megalomaniac. He is now infatuated with Rubria, the young Vestal Virgin. A conversation ensues where Vinicius tells Nero of how Ursus killed Croton, and Nero wants to see this barbarian. He asks of Lygia, and Vinicius does not respond. But he invites Vinicius to another of his feasts.
At this feast, held at the pond of Agrippa, on a raft in the pond, all sorts of entertainment was provided: music and song, dancers, mock naval battles on the pond, exotic foods, and wines. Poppea seemed to be infatuated with Vinicius, who was seated next to her. At dusk the raft touched land and all the entourage scattered into the woods where tents were arranged for illicit wanton liaisons. Vinicius too was stirred into lust and ran into the woods, but his recall of Lygia held him back, and when he was about to get away a masked woman approached him. She pushed herself on him and he rejected her. At that moment Petronius approached and the veiled woman ran off. When the two could speak privately, Petronius tells him that Nero has committed the grave sin of having sex with the Vestal Virgin Rubria. Vinicius wondering who that veiled woman could be is told it was Poppaea. Filled with disgust, Vinicius wishes to leave Rome.
Afterward, Petronius contemplates the trouble Vinicius is in. If Vinicius succumbs to Poppaea’s advances, Vinicius will be under Nero’s wrath. If he continues to resist Poppaea, he will be under Poppaea’s wrath. It would be safer for Vinicius to leave Rome altogether. In addition he plans to suggest to Nero that he expel all the Christians from Rome, and so Lygia would be away from Vinicius. Hoping to meet again with Lygia, Vinicius rejects leaving Rome. Despite Petroius explaining all the dangers around him, Vinicius can only think of finding Lygia. As it turns out, Chilo returns to Vinicius’ house and informs him he knows where Lygia is now. He could take her to this new house where she was staying with a priest named Linus. Passion took Vinicius again. He realized he could go to this house and seize her. But this would never allow Lygia to love him. He felt the tension again between his Roman consciousness and a Christian one. At that moment, Chilo standing before him disgusted him. He ordered that he be whipped with three hundred lashes. Begging, Chilo pleaded. But Vinicius’s Roman heart was unmoved and his slaves pulled Chilo away to be whipped. Chilo begged “in the name of Christ.” And while Chilo was being flogged, Vinicius repented, also “in the name of Christ.” When Chilo revived, Vinicius had him lead to the house where Lygia was staying.
At the house, Vinicius finds Miriam, her son, Peter, Glaucus, Crispus, and Paul. He greets them in the name of Christ. He explains to them that his love for Lygia has been a suffering, and that he cannot take her by force but through Christianity must have her love him. Christianity he explains has changed him. Though it be unnecessary to ask, he requests her hand in marriage through them. He acknowledges he has an incomplete understanding of the faith but is predisposed to accept it. He even sees thorough the misconception of Christianity bringing no joy of life. Peter especially is pleased and welcomes him. Lygia then arrives and is surprised to find Vinicius. Peter asks her if she loves Vinicius, and she says she does.
Together in a garden, Vinicius and Lygia express their
love for each other and plan to marry.
As they go over the events that led to their initial meeting and their
final betrothal, Lygia points out it was the hand of Christ that had shaped the
circumstances, and Vinicius agrees. He
envisions them in the future living at his home in Rome. They plan the wedding and sit to eat with the
others.
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My
Comment:
I think Chapter 33 is just about the midpoint of the novel, and there the conversion of Vinicius is completed. So the main thrust of the first half is to bring Vinicius from a young, Roman aristocrat and soldier to his conversion to Christianity. He is clearly the hero and central character of the novel. I am surprised to find that we see the Christianity from an outsider’s perspective. Sienkiewicz has done a superb job of credibly creating the ancient Roman consciousness and worldview and then looking at Christianity through that worldview, capturing both what would repulse the Romans about the Christians and what would make the pagan world attracted. And also he’s created a credible love story of what would seemingly be impossible two to bring together.
Michelle’s
Comment:
Vinicius' conversion was
so wonderfully written. It wasn't an instantaneous light switch, but an ongoing
struggle with him toggling back and forth between the two sides of himself.
I also started to like Petronius more by this point. He was genuinely upset about the effect of Christianity on his nephew's state of mind.
Kerstin’s
Reply and Comment:
Manny wrote: "I am
surprised to find that we see the Christianity from an outsider’s perspective.”
Isn’t this the way most people encountered Christianity at the time? Very few
at the time were born into the Christian faith. We get to discover and explore
what is so special about the faith from the perspective of someone who truly
has never encountered the Christian world view. That’s no small feat, since
we’ve been so inculturated over the millennia we often no longer recognize many
aspects of Western Culture originating in Christianity.
My
Reply to Kerstin:
Yes, that is true and perhaps that is why Sienkiewicz wrote it that way. I was pondering if my approach to the subject would have gone that way. If I had sat down to write a novel where the early Christians are the subject I might have written it from the perspective of a Christian. The novel Ben-Hur is written from the perspective of a Jew who becomes Christian in Roman times. Sienkiewicz makes it work because Vinicius is so integrated into both worlds and converts over. If Sienkiewicz had written this from the perspective of say Petronius, for instance, I think it would have faced a lot of obstacles. I don't know if it then could have worked. You would not get a sympathetic view of the Christians.
Kerstin’s
Reply:
Manny wrote: " If
Sienkiewicz had written this from the perspective of say Petronius, for
instance, I think it would have faced a lot of obstacles. I don't know if it
then could have worked. You would not get a sympathetic view of the
Christians."
I agree. Petronius has no reason to look at the Christians in any other way but
as a group of people with strange and questionable beliefs. With Vinicius we
have a young man in love who wants to know everything he can about Lygia and
who she is. His heart is already open. When he finds out that the rumors
peddled about the Christians are not true he is liberated to see and learn what
this religion is all about.
Kerstin’s
Comment:
The decadence at the feast at the pond of Agrippa was masterfully done. The whole affair is so over the top that one gets repulsed by it, and that is long before the lascivious events of the evening.
###
Excerpt
from Chapter 31, Nero’s floating feast on the Pond of Agrippa:
But the "floating
feast" pleased Cæsar, for it was something new. Besides, such exquisite
dishes were served that the imagination of Apicius would have failed at sight
of them, and wines of so many kinds that Otho, who used to serve eighty, would
have hidden under water with shame, could he have witnessed the luxury of that
feast. Besides women, the Augustians sat down at the table, among whom Vinicius
excelled all with his beauty. Formerly his figure and face indicated too
clearly the soldier by profession; now mental suffering and the physical pain
through which he had passed had chiselled his features, as if the delicate hand
of a master had passed over them. His complexion had lost its former
swarthiness, but the yellowish gleam of Numidian marble remained on it. His
eyes had grown larger and more pensive. His body had retained its former
powerful outlines, as if created for armor; but above the body of a legionary
was seen the head of a Grecian god, or at least of a refined patrician, at once
subtle and splendid. Petronius, in saying that none of the ladies of Cæsar's
court would be able or willing to resist Vinicius, spoke like a man of
experience. All gazed at him now, not excepting Poppæa, or the vestal virgin
Rubria, whom Cæsar wished to see at the feast.
Wines, cooled in mountain
snow, soon warmed the hearts and heads of the guests. Boats shaped as
grasshoppers or butterflies shot forth from the bushes at the shore every
moment. The blue surface of the pond seemed occupied by butterflies. Above the
boats here and there flew doves, and other birds from India and Africa,
fastened with silver and blue threads or strings. The sun had passed the
greater part of the sky, but the day was warm and even hot, though in the
beginning of May. The pond heaved from the strokes of oars, which beat the
water in time with music; but in the air there was not the least breath of
wind; the groves were motionless, as if lost in listening and in gazing at that
which was happening on the water. The raft circled continually on the pond,
bearing guests who were increasingly drunk and boisterous.
The feast had not run
half its course yet, when the order in which all sat at the table was observed
no longer. Cæsar gave the example, for, rising himself, he commanded Vinicius,
who sat next to Rubria the vestal, to move. Nero occupied the place, and began
to whisper something in Rubria's ear. Vinicius found himself next to Poppæa,
who extended her arm and begged him to fasten her loosened bracelet. When he
did so, with hands trembling somewhat, she cast at him from beneath her long
lashes a glance as it were of modesty, and shook her golden head as if in
resistance.
Meanwhile the sun, growing larger, ruddier, sank slowly behind the tops of the grove; the guests were for the greater part thoroughly intoxicated. The raft circled now nearer the shore, on which, among bunches of trees and flowers, were seen groups of people, disguised as fauns or satyrs, playing on flutes, bagpipes, and drums, with groups of maidens representing nymphs, dryads, and hamadryads. Darkness fell at last amid drunken shouts from the tent, shouts raised in honor of Luna. Meanwhile the groves were lighted with a thousand lamps. From the lupanaria on the shores shone swarms of lights; on the terraces appeared new naked groups, formed of the wives and daughters of the first Roman houses. These with voice and unrestrained manner began to lure partners. The raft touched the shore at last. Cæsar and the Augustians vanished in the groves, scattered in lupanaria, in tents hidden in thickets, in grottos artificially arranged among fountains and springs. Madness seized all; no one knew whither Cæsar had gone; no one knew who was a senator, who a knight, who a dancer, who a musician. Satyrs and fauns fell to chasing nymphs with shouting. They struck lamps with thyrses to quench them. Darkness covered certain parts of the grove. Everywhere, however, laughter and shouts were heard, and whispers, and panting breaths. In fact Rome had not seen anything like that before.
A
second excerpt from Chapter 33. Vinicuis
professes before Peter and Paul that he loves Lygia and is moved to the faith
of Christ. Vinicuis first speaks of his
difficulties with Christianity.
He spoke with head erect
and decisively; but still he was moved, and his legs trembled beneath his
mantle. When silence followed his words, he continued, as if wishing to
anticipate an unfavorable answer,—
"I know what
obstacles exist, but I love her as my own eyes; and though I am not a Christian
yet, I am neither your enemy nor Christ's. I wish to be sincere, so that you
may trust me. At this moment it is a question of life with me, still I tell you
the truth. Another might say, Baptize me; I say, Enlighten me. I believe that
Christ rose from the dead, for people say so who love the truth, and who saw
Him after death. I believe, for I have seen myself, that your religion produces
virtue, justice, and mercy,—not crime, which is laid to your charge. I have not
known your religion much so far. A little from you, a little from your works, a
little from Lygia, a little from conversations with you. Still I repeat that it
has made some change in me. Formerly I held my servants with an iron hand; I
cannot do so now. I knew no pity; I know it now. I was fond of pleasure; the
other night I fled from the pond of Agrippa, for the breath was taken from me
through disgust. Formerly I believed in superior force; now I have abandoned
it. Know ye that I do not recognize myself. I am disgusted by feasts, wine,
singing, citharæ, garlands, the court of Cæsar, naked bodies, and every crime.
When I think that Lygia is like snow in the mountains, I love her the more; and
when I think that she is what she is through your religion, I love and desire
that religion. But since I understand it not, since I know not whether I shall
be able to live according to it, nor whether my nature can endure it, I am in
uncertainty and suffering, as if I were in prison."
Here his brows met in
wrinkle of pain, and a flush appeared on his cheeks; after that he spoke on
with growing haste and greater emotion,—
"As ye see, I am
tortured from love and uncertainty. Men tell me that in your religion there is
no place for life, or human joy, or happiness, or law, or order, or authority,
or Roman dominion. Is this true? Men tell me that ye are madmen; but tell me
yourselves what ye bring. Is it a sin to love, a sin to feel joy, a sin to want
happiness? Are ye enemies of life? Must a Christian be wretched? Must I
renounce Lygia? What is truth in your view? Your deeds and words are like
transparent water, but what is under that water? Ye see that I am sincere.
Scatter the darkness. Men say this to me also: Greece created beauty and
wisdom, Rome created power; but they—what do they bring? Tell, then, what ye
bring. If there is brightness beyond your doors, open them."
"We bring
love," said Peter.
And Paul of Tarsus
added,—"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not
love, I am become sounding brass."
But the heart of the old
Apostle was stirred by that soul in suffering, which, like a bird in a cage,
was struggling toward air and the sun; hence, stretching his hand to Vinicius,
he said,—"Whoso knocketh, to him will be opened. The favor and grace of
God is upon thee; for this reason I bless thee, thy soul and thy love, in the
name of the Redeemer of mankind."
Vinicius, who had spoken
with enthusiasm already, sprang toward Peter on hearing this blessing, and an
uncommon thing happened. That descendant of Quirites, who till recently had not
recognized humanity in a foreigner, seized the hand of the old Galilean, and
pressed it in gratitude to his lips.
Peter was pleased; for he
understood that his sowing had fallen on an additional field, that his
fishing-net had gathered in a new soul.
Those present, not less
pleased by that evident expression of honor for the Apostle of God, exclaimed
in one voice,—"Praise to the Lord in the highest!"
The novel is far better than any of the movies.
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