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''Paphnutius'' or ''The Conversion of the Harlot Thaïs'' is a play originally written in Latin by Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim (935-1002). It concerns the relationship between Saint Thaïs, once a courtesan of Alexandria in Roman Egypt, and Paphnutius the Ascetic,〔Or alternatively Paphnutius of Thebes. Both are revered as saints.〕 the hermit who offered her conversion to Christianity. The characters of the play lived during the 4th century. Much later in Europe, beginning in the early middle ages, the story of St. Thaïs also enjoyed a wide popularity.〔(''The Life of St. Thaïs'': Introduction ) re "R.H.Robbin Library, Camelot Project". Verified: 8 January 2013.〕 Evidently Hrotsvitha employed as a source for her play the ''Vita Thaisis'', a several-centuries-old translation into Latin of the life of Saint Thaïs (the original in Greek). The playwright, a Benedictine Canoness of Saxony (northwest Germany), drawing on the tradition, apparently created a narrative line and a distinctive character for St. Thaïs appropriate to the medieval Christian worldview.〔Katherine N. Wilson (translated with an introduction), ''The Dramas of Hrotsvit of Gandersheim'' (Saskatoon: Peregina Publishing Co. 1985), the drama ''The Converstion of the Harlot Thais'' at 92-112.〕〔Katherine N. Wilson (translator), ''The Plays of Hrotsvitha of Gandersheim'' (New York: Garland Publishing Co. 1989), the play ''Pafnutius'' at 93-122.〕 ==Play== Perhaps unexpectedly, the play begins with a somewhat scholarly dialogue between clerics regarding the harmony inherent in the created world. The subject of concord sets the stage for the drama of the disordered life of the courtesan Thaïs. "She shines forth in wondrous beauty" yet she also "threatens men with foul shame."〔Wilson (tr.), ''The Dramas of Hrotsvit'' (1985) at 98. Wilson (tr.), ''The Plays of Hrotsvitha'' (1989) at 102-103. She "is ready to ensnare all men with allurement of her beauty and drag them along with her to eternal perdition." ''Id.''〕 In the play Thaïs is presented as someone "who was always eager to accumulate wealth".〔Wilson (tr.), ''The Dramas of Hrotsvit'' (1985) at 103. Wilson (tr.), ''The Plays of Hrotsvitha'' (1989) at 111.〕 The saint Pafnutius explains to his disciples that "not only frivolous youth dissipate their families' few possessions on her but even respected men waste their costly treasures by lavishing gifts on her... ."〔Wilson (tr.), ''The Dramas of Hrotsvit'' (1985) at 110-111. Wilson (tr.), ''The Plays of Hrotsvitha'' (1989) at 122.〕 A modern writer observes: "Hrotsvit's Thaïs became a prostitute because of her love of money. The root of her immorality is avarice, which in combination with her great beauty, resulted in her choice of prostitution as a career."〔Stephen L. Wailes, ''Spirituality and Politics in the Works of Hrotsvit of Gandersheim'' (Selingrove: Susquehanna University Press 2006), chapter on Thaïs at 181-189, above quote at 185. "The root of her lechery is her cupidity, ''radix enum luxuriae cupiditas'', and so she has been the ruin of many men whose senuality led them down the path to poverty." ''Id.''〕 After her conversion to Christianity she "destroys" 400 pounds of gold and burns other articles of treasure before her former patrons. Pafnutius exclaims to Thaïs, "O how you have changed from your prior condition when you burned with illicit passions and were inflamed with greed for possessions!"〔Wilson (tr.), ''The Dramas of Hrotsvit'' (1985) at 102. Wilson (tr.), ''The Plays of Hrotsvitha'' (1989) at 110, 109.〕 The depiction of her conversion, her transition from courtesan to Christian, may appear rather truncated to a modern audience. Afterwards Pafnutius would describe the event to a brother religious: "I visited her, disguised as a lover, secretly, and won over her lascivious mind first with admonitions and flattery, then I frightened her with harsh threats."〔Wilson (tr.), ''The Dramas of Hrotsvit'' (1985) at 118. Wilson (tr.), ''The Plays of Hrotsvitha'' (1989) at 108.〕 Their first meeting is presented in part as follows: :Pafnutius: Isn't there another room where we can converse more privately, one that is hidden away? :Thaïs: There is one so hidden, so secret, that no one besides me knows its inside except for God. :Pafnutius: What God? :Thaïs: The true God. :Pafnutius: Do you believe He knows what we do? :Thaïs: I know that nothing is hidden from His view. :Pafnutius: Do you believe that He overlooks the deeds of the wicked or that He metes out justice as is due? :Thaïs: I believe that He weighs the merits of each person justly in His scale and that each according to his deserts receives reward or travail from Him."〔Wilson (tr.), ''The Dramas of Hrotsvit'' (1985) at 100. Wilson (tr.), ''The Plays of Hrotsvitha'' (1989) at 118.〕 Pafnutius then bluntly condemns her actions as meriting damnation. Thaïs acquiesces to the view of Pafnutius without protest; she becomes anxious. Apparently, she had managed to hide from herself her knowledge of her sin. When Pafnutius confronts her, quickly Thaïs realizes her self-deception. Then she came to hear the discord within her that had caused her unbalanced life, with its disruptive results. She repents.〔Wailes, ''Spirituality and Politics in the Works of Hrotsvit of Gandersheim'' (2006), his chapter on Thaïs at 181-189.〕 After entering a process of spiritual transformation, Thaïs tells Pafnutius that "All angels sing His praise and His kindness, because He never scorns the humility of a contrite soul."〔Wilson (tr.), ''The Dramas of Hrotsvit'' (1985) at 109-110. Wilson (tr.), ''The Plays of Hrotsvitha'' (1989) at 121.〕 Thaïs burns her ill-gotten treasures; she then follows Pafnutius into the desert, to a convent where she will live under the guidance of the abbess for several years. There, in solitude, cloistered and penitent, she reviewed in a new light her former life and sought forgiveness.〔Wilson (tr.), ''The Dramas of Hrotsvit'' (1985) at 104. Wilson (tr.), ''The Plays of Hrotsvitha'' (1989) at 112.〕 Pafnutius here, in delivering the newly converted Thaïs to her to the place of her spiritual refuge and retreat, addresses the abbess of the convent in the Egyptian desert, concerning her recent past and her proper care: "I have brought you a half-dead little she-goat, recently snatched from the teeth of wolves. I hope that by your compassion () shelter will be insured, and that by your care, () will be cured, and that having cast aside the rough pelt of a goat she will be clothed with the soft wool of the lamb."〔Wilson (tr.), ''The Dramas of Hrotsvit'' (1985), at 104. Wilson (tr.), ''The Plays of Hrotsvitha'' (1989), at 112.〕 Later as death approaches her, Thaïs prays to God: "Thou who didst create me have mercy on me... ." Pafnutius also prays "that Thaïs be resurrected exactly as she was, a human being, and joining the white lambs may enter eternal joys."〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Paphnutius (play)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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