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Cleopatra as a powerful leader essay
Character of cleopatra essay about 1000 words
Rome and egypt in antony and cleopatra
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Queen Cleopatra, the last Pharaoh of Egypt, described as divine and beautiful by her disciples. She inherited pearls, the largest of the time, each worth a fortune. In a bet between Antony and Cleopatra, written by Pliny the Elder, he indirectly writes about the wealth of Egypt, the relationship of Cleopatra and Antony, and religious beliefs of the Romans. The wager between Cleopatra and Antony is historic and still conversed about today. The story has many underlying undertones along with the pearls of Venus, the wealth of Egypt, and the relationship between Antony and Cleopatra.
Toward the end of Cleopatra’s reign and the end of Egypt, the Egyptians had an insurmountable amount of wealth. Cleopatra herself wasted a fortune on the famous
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Pliny the Elder states, “the second pearl was cut in two so that half a diner might adorn each ear of the statue of Venus in the Pantheon at Rome.” Venus was thought to have been the mother of the Roman people in the epic written by Virgil where she is the mother of Aeneas who she guides to help found Rome. Venus translates to the Greek god “Aphrodite”; she was the goddess of love, beauty, and sex. Venus would use lust, love, and sex to defeat her enemies and lure them into traps. Venus who when she was born had beautiful pearl earrings placed upon her. Cleopatra was also known for using her beauty and her power to control men, as Venus did. Cleopatra seems to have been portrayed by Pliny as a woman with the power of Venus. The pearls were what Pliny describes as, “remarkable and truly unique work of nature.” Others may argue that the pearls where an omen. For it is believed that the capture of Egypt was an omen brought on by the pearls being split. As Cleopatra was brought down, so indeed was the empire that was built before her. The pearls are thought to have also brought the Roman Empire to collapse as well from the omen that the pearls
Out of the ashes of history Schiff argues for Cleopatra’s intellect rather than her maliciousness was what led to all her achievements. Politically and tacitly apt she won the hearts of a populace through the use of spectacles and dramas that painted her into a god like queen. Her creativity and audacity armored with her intellect allowed her to be revered and made both goddess and empress of an Empire to which she had no legitimate claim. Both Caesar and Mark Anthony fell helpless to her charm, intelligence and displays of opulent extravagance which were almost divine. She understood what powerful, intellectual men were attracted to. Most captivating, she was able to navigate her way through to the hearts of these powerful men who came from a different world than hers. As where her Egypt was the champion of women’s rights in antiquity, Rome was known for the polar opposite. To achieve such drastic success where her gender
Changing social habits of a contemporary society have seen Cleopatra depicted in many different ways. Whilst few artefacts remain of the true image of Cleopatra, we see from her portrait on the coins (Fear, 2008, p, 21 Fig 1.4) that despite being no legendary beauty, she had the power to captivate two of the greatest Romans of her time. Cleopatra consummated her union with Julius Caesar, which strengthened her grip on the throne, following his assassination; she formed alliance with Mark Antony, in opposition to Octavian, a coalition that would lead to her downfall as both Antony and Cleopatra’s combined forces would be defeated against Octavian in the battle of Actium in 31 BCE. (Fear, 2008, p.7)
In this research paper I will be writing about Cleopatra VII. Her early life, family and her relationships’. Cleopatra VII was born around 69 BC and was the daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes and Cleopatra V of Egypt. Her parents got married in the year 79 BC. Her father Ptolemy XII Auletes was the king of Egypt during 80-58 B.C. and 55-51 B.C. He was born in 117 BC and was also known as the “Piper” because he played the flute. He died in 51 BC, Alexandria, Egypt from being exiled. Her mother Cleopatra V was the queen of Egypt, born in 95 BC. She vanished around the time of Cleopatra’s birth in 69 BC then died in 57 BC. Some people believe she was either murdered or that she may have died while giving birth. (“Cleopatras Family”)
Cleopatra, born in 69 B.C., was an Egyptian Queen and the last pharaoh of Ancient Egypt. She was from Greek descent and a member of the Ptolemies, who ruled Egypt for nearly 300 years. In just her early twenties, Cleopatra became Queen of Egypt following the death of her father and the defeat of her siblings. Popularly, she is remembered because of her physical beauty, love affairs, and the tragedy of her life. But more importantly she should be celebrated as a commanding female leader who used her intellect to exercise considerable power and influence in a male-dominated world.
Virgil’s The Aeneid and the historical figures Antony and Cleopatra are parallel love stories with striking similarities individuated by inverse denouements. Virgil wrote The Aeneid as a tribute for Augustus Caesar, the leader of the Roman Empire and and integral figure in the story of Antony and Cleopatra. The Aeneid’s lovers Dido and Aeneas parallel the true tale of Antony and Cleopatra with the common theme of a heroic man duty-bound to his state torn between responsibility to his nation and amorous devotion to a passionate, beautiful foreign queen. Virgil’s epic poem The Aeneid, contains a brief romance between the central character Aeneas and the queen of Carthage, Dido. Though only lasting through part of the epic is the famous romance of this tale. While Cleopatra and Antony were less mystical in their relations both couples were stories of star-crossed lovers that despite their political complications found solace and joy in their relations with each other before meeting untimely ends.
Despite Egypt’s provincial annexation to Rome after her death, Cleopatra managed to keep the Romans at bay for nearly twenty-two years. Unfortunately, much of her achievements have been disparaged and attributed to the utilization of her sexuality. To add, her image as a competent female ruler has been further distorted by the media and literature alike. Much of this misrepresentation can be accredited to the scarcity of reliable and unbiased accounts about her life. The Romans were afraid of Cleopatra’s power and the alliances she created with their generals. Therefore, accounts of her life in Roman scripture are not particularly in her favor.
Cleopatra II. Summary: After the completion of the book, it had let me to believe the book was written for the general audience. Although the author provided many resources, the information was taken from literature that was written during the time.
The Woman who was King. Kings and Queens. 1997-2005. Mark Millmore's Ancient Egypt. 20 Nov. 2004. <http://www.eyelid.co.uk/k-q1.htm>.
Was Cleopatra the reason the Egyptian Empire fell? Cleopatra's family ruled Egypt for more than one-hundred years. So maybe, her greed started way before she had a chance to choose her fate. Maybe she saw the power her father held and wanted to see what it was like to have all of the power. To be respected. To be feared. Are maybe she wasn’t the main reason the Egyptian empire fell.
Cleopatra. Dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Perf. Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, and Rex Harrison. Twentieth Century Fox Productions, 1963.
The woman, by definition is the nurturer of life. She labors through birth, tends to the needs of her family, and assumes unending responsibilities. And while women have given birth to the ancient and modern day male heroes we've come to glorify to this day, we must remember that some of those same women have also been tremendously influential and invaluable all throughout the depths of history. One such woman is Cleopatra, the temptress whose ambition and seduction both augmented her empire's prestige and brought about her theatrical downfall.
Because of the time period in which Cleopatra lived not very much is known of her. In ancient times there was record keeping. Although many of the accounts written down were not preserved well enough to be available to this day.
From the early years of her life, Cleopatra learned that to gain the thrown in the dynasty of the Ptolemies it took a lot more then sheer knowledge. She did however have a very good education in which she knew how to speak seven different languages and was the only Ptolemy to have know how to speak Egyptian and Greek ("The Unsolved Death of Cleopatra"). It is clear that even from such a young age Cleopatra was driven to succeed. It appears that it wasn't enough for her to just be educated, but to surpass her siblings and quite possibly her own parents. This was soon proven to be so once she inherited the throne and problems began to ensue. With the title of pharaoh came the marriage to her younger brother, though neither one was willing to share that power together. Soon after taking the throne her brother was found murdere...
Grant, Michael. From Alexander to Cleopatra: The Hellenistic World. New York: Micheal Grant Publications Ltd, 1982.
Tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra Antony bears the guilt. Shakespeare writes'Antony and Cleopatra'in a way where the reader places the blame on Cleopatra. Cleopatra brings the downfall of Mark.