The Centre of The Universe

Davus The Slavus :

Ammonius.

Does God Speak with you?

Ammonius :

All the time.

'Ammonius this', 'Ammonius that'.

'Ammonius, Ammonius, Ammonius'.

Today, he spoke to me so quickly, 

I had to ask him: "Slow Down".

Davus The Slavus :

Tell me something :

Do you ever think we're mistaken?

Ammonius :

Why?

Davus The Slavus :

I was forgiven...

But now, I can't forgive.

Ammonius :

Forgive? Who?

The Jews?

Davus The Slavus :

Well, Jesus pardoned them on The Cross.

Ammonius :

Jesus was God

and 

only He can show such clemency.

Bretheren :

How dare you compare yourself to God?

Ammonius :

Brother. We are Still Alive.

Why?

Because it was His Will to 

Save Us from The Stones.

God wants us here, doing What We Do.

Don't you believe in that anymore?

Agora movie 2009 - 

one of the best scenes of Rachel Weisz

Aspasius, The Slave :

Lady, you must not lose heart.

Today on the boat you made great progress.

Why do the wanderers bury their brightness so unexpectedly.

And what is worse, why does the Sun...

Why does it change size from summer to winter?

Aspasius, The Slave :

Perhaps because...

Sometimes it is nearer...

And other times it is further away.

But Aspasius, watch...

According to Aristarchus, 

The Sun must be at the center of everything.

With us, the Earth, traveling in a circle around it.

Therefore, and this is the key,

we're always at exactly...

The same... distance.

Now, if as you just said,

we accept the changes in distance,

then we are forced to add 

an epicycle to the Earth's orbit.

So it is going to be nearer

and then it's going to be further away.

But now we fall into

the same trap as Ptolemy.

Aspasius, The Slave :

Circle upon circles.

The Lady Hypatia :

Exactly!

So I just Do Not Know

How to Resolve This Conflict.

.....I mean, the only thing we could do is...

Displace The Sun from The Centre, and well...

Not to have A Centre.

It breaks My Heart, Aspasius.

So Tell Me, 

What Do I Do?

Aspasius, The Slave :

Rest, Lady.

The Lady Hypatia :

What if we dared to look at The World 

just as it is?

Let us shed for a moment 

every preconceived idea.

What shape would it show us?

What shape?

Aspasius, The Slave :

You once said that 

The Problem lies in 

The Inconsistency of The Sun.

The Lady Hypatia :

Yes I did, good, good...

Put it into words.

The Sun must be at The Centre,

since we revolve around it.

And at the same time,

in another position  since 

our distance from it varies.

Aspasius, The Slave :

Yes, exactly.

How?

How could it occupy

two positions at once?

How could it occupy

two positions at once?

How could it occupy

two positions at once?

Aspasius...

Yes, yes. There.

And then the other one here.

Keeping the same proportion.

Good. Very good.

Now, tie this end to that torch.

Aspasius --

I want you to imagine that this is The Earth.

And that each of these flames represent the two extreme positions of The Sun in relation to it.

In Winter and in Summer.

What would happen if both these

positions were the two Centres

of one and the same circle?

Aspasius, The Slave :

But it isn't possible, Mistress.

The Lady Hypatia :

Wait. What do we know about a circle?

We know that The Centre of A Circle is always 

the same distance from any point along its perimeter.

Exactly.

Yes, so...

What if I divide the center into two...

but What I Keep Constant is the sum 

of their two distances to the perimeter.

Alright, look. I'll show you.

Watch. As I move this rod along the cord,

as one segment increases

the other segment decreases,

and vice versa.

Therefore the sum of the two

is always going to be constant.

Do you see that?

Now, what if we apply this to 

The Movement of The Earth?

What...

figure...

....will we obtain?

An Ellipse!

With The Sun as one of its foci.

Because, what is a circle except 

a very special ellipse

whose foci have joined so close

together that they appear to be one.

.....perhaps, I'm completely raving, Aspasius.

I mean, why should this be so?

Maybe I'm just...

Maybe I'm...

What do you think?

Aspasius, The Slave :

...It could well be so, Mistress.

The Lady Hypatia :

Alright, well, um, we'll continue

with this tomorrow.

Get some sleep.

Aspasius, The Slave :

Good night, Mistress.

The Lady Hypatia :

Good night.

(she kisses him on The Head)

Thank you.