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Influences on Cleopatras life
Influences on Cleopatras life
Influences on Cleopatras life
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Cleopatra committed suicide possibly by holding a snake to her body and allowing it to bite her, killing herself with its poisonous asp venom. Although there are some myths about Cleopatra’s cause of death, it's proven through a carving of Isis (though faulty) surrounded by snake found in the temple File. Some individuals believe that she was thought to be the living reincarnation of Isis, suggesting that destiny was intertwined with the serpent which symbolizes divine loyalty. She committed suicide because she didn't want to fall under Octarian’s (later changed to Augustus) domination, suffer the violence of being paraded, shamed, helpless through Rome.
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)
Similar to the 1963 film Cleopatra, in Plutarch's The Life of Antony, sexism is maintained in the passage and compatible with its message. Through the author's portrayal of Cleopatra and Antony, he spreads the message that obsession with power is bad and the idea that manipulation and attempts at domination are signs of a bad ruler. Sexism is compatible with such messages because as indicated by Plutarch, Cleopatra utilizes sexist expectations of women in order to manipulate Antony through her aspirations of domination. Therefore, similar to the films Cleopatra and Quo Vadis, because Cleopatra is unsuccessful as she commits suicide in the end and is found "lying dead upon a golden couch," as well as is portrayed as an immoral ruler in Plutarch's Life of Antony, sexism is portrayed in the passage as a negative quality that leads to failure. (Plutarch, Life of Antony, 85) However, Plutarch differs in his treatment of sexism and attitude towards Cleopatra to the extent that he appears to place the fault with Cleopatra. While he maintains that sexism is a negative quality through his portrayal of Cleopatra playing into sexist expectations, by casting Cleopatra as a manipulative woman, Plutarch appears to be blaming Cleopatra for her own weaknesses as a ruler as well as for Antony's downfall. Although the film Cleopatra displayed how Cleopatra got power by using her sexuality and having Caesar and Antony fall in love with her, Plutarch Life of Antony portrays her as even more of a manipulator of men. For example, the author mentions that Cleopatra "pretended to be passionately in love with Antony herself, and reduced her body by slender diet; she put on a look of rapture when Antony drew near, and one of faintness and melancholy when h...
In Shakespeare’s play, Hamlet, Ophelia cause of death is suicide. This statement can be supported by the events that unfold in the final acts of the play. When Gertrude discovers Ophelia dead in the river, the description she gives about her appearance to Laertes and Claudius indirectly hints that Ophelia took her own life. Also in the first scene in Act five, the gravediggers are preparing the burial for Ophelia. They are confused whether or not she should get a Christian burial. According to the church, suicide is a sin and one cannot get a Christian burial if one commits suicide. Also, with the recent events that have happened to Ophelia, she loses it because it is too much stress and sadness. Her father, Polonius, is killed by Hamlet and Hamlet leaves for England shortly after. She loved him and Hamlet just killed her father. She becomes mentally unstable. Ophelia’s cause of death is certainly a suicide.
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.
An asp bite creates a particularly awkward, excruciating death. The asp venom causes blood poisoning and an intense burn at the site of the wound. This burning is quickly forgotten, however, as the bite victim fades into a state of giddiness accompanied by nausea and extreme thirst. Blood clots form as the skin becomes speckled with purple spots, and there is usually a considerable amount of swelling. The victim then goes into convulsions, vomiting, urinating, and defecating uncontrollably (Hughes-Hallet 106). This is not a death suitable for a Queen, let alone Queen Cleopatra. Nonetheless, writers throughout history have designated the asp to be Cleopatra's suicide weapon. Her death is described as either an ecstatic orgasm or a serene slip into eternal slumber. Analyzing her death with an eye for accuracy, we can see that it is highly unlikely that Cleopatra would have chosen to kill herself with an asp. "Asp" is an imprecise term, which referred to many various African vipers, all of which would have left her corpse looking less than beautiful. The death that Cleopatra is described to have experienced resembles the death caused by a cobra sting, not an asp bite. A cobra would have had to be at least four feet long to excrete enough venom to kill Cleopatra and her two maids (Hughes-Hallet 107). Since writers have taken liberties with their descriptions of Cleopatra's death scene, representing the asp in various ways, we should ask, "What does the snake symbolize in Cleopatra's suicide, and how does this representation affect the overall portrayal of the Queen and her suicide?"
When I announced to my friends and family that I was going to write a paper about Cleopatra the opinions that I faced were so different from what I expected. The women were saying how beautiful and astonishing Cleopatra was and that she was this independent woman who has led as an example for independency and strong will of women for hundreds of years. The men on the other hand called her this “man- eating monster” that betrayed, manipulated and murdered everyone that was a challenge to her and her reign as Queen of Egypt. So who was Cleopatra?
There are various reasons as to why one might commit suicide. With regards to Sophocles’ play, Oedipus The King, Jocasta is a primary example of why one might commit suicide. She is both a wife and mother to Oedipus and, as it was iterated in the play, that it will be her son who is both the murderer of her husband and her sexual partner. At the beginning of the play, Jocasta is introduced as a skeptic individual who, in an attempt to thwart the Gods, abandons her child so as to avoid the prophecy. One reason why Jocasta kills herself is due to her pride, it constantly blinds her from the truth which influences her actions. Upon discovery of the prophecy’s fulfillment, Jocasta devolves and realizes the truth which leads to her tragic end. It
Ultimately, Caesar’s pride helped cause the end of his life. He was so self-absorbed and so confident that Decius was telling him the truth that Calpurnia’s dream was taken the wrong way. Noble Caesar believed the Roman citizens loved him and that he was their lifeblood, but really they wanted him gone. It is possible that Caesar would have been killed by the conspirators another day, but since he did not listen to what the soothsayer and his own wife had to say, he was tragically taken for
Most of the people in ancient Egypt we happy to have Cleopatra as their leader but some of the people didn't like having her as a pharaoh and queen. Some of the people that expressed their feelings about cleopatra were executed if she didn't like what they said about
Around 69 B.C, one of the most famous female rulers ever known was born, she was Cleopatra. She was the descendent of the Egyptian ruler, Ptolemy XII, and she would eventually became the queen of ancient Egypt herself. She was known for being extremely intelligent and very charming, and because of this many romans feared her and viewed her as a threat. When her father died the throne of Egypt was left to her and her brother, Ptolemy XIII, and rivalry formed between the two, making her even more determined to become the sole ruler of Egypt. Cleopatra had trained all her life to be the successor of Egypt and she hungered for power. Like her father, she tried to have peace with Rome and maybe even have power over them. She would gain her power by having Caesar one and only son, Caesarion, the loyalty of Marc Antony, a well-known general who was popular among the troops in Rome, and of course by using her intelligence and Egypt’s resources. Cleopatra was a successful ruler because she had a thirst for power.
Throughout antiquity, the great Egyptian Queen Cleopatra has become incarcerated within the sole definition of infamy. Roman depictions of this “salacious harlot” (Bianchi, get documentary date of creation), the “selfish tyrant” (Hughes-Hallett, 1990, p. 1) have created the memory of Cleopatra as an infamous woman, a reputation that lingers with supremacy in our minds, but simultaneously raises the question of whether this is an accurate portrayal or if we should remember her in a different manner – the child who was victimized by Roman enemies, or the strong-willed epitome of the ideal modern woman. The general definition of ‘infamy’ is ‘the state of being well-known for some bad quality or deed’. Beyond the thick film of infamy that the Romans
Every country has had their share in important kings, leaders, or queens. These reasons vary depending on the position they held but for the most part the characteristics and traits are similar. The three leaders are form different civilizations, cultural and family background. In each one of the artworks representing the leader, the artist felt it was essential the art speaks for the leader’s life and their contributions.
In the play Caesar’s war is against Antony and Cleopatra and he achieves this by the end of the story. Loomba states that Imperial victory throughout history is represented by the sexual control of defeated women (Norton 264). In this case, by the end of the play when Cleopatra is defeated by Caesar after Antony’s death, Caesar does not necessarily wish to use Cleopatra as a sexual reward, however show her off as a display of how he conquered. This leads to Cleopatra committing suicide to escape the reign of Caesar and it symbolizes masculinity’s victory over femininity and femininity’s refusal to be
Despite this set back she was still very determined to rule. Cleopatra became Caesars mistress so that she could use his army to take out her rivalry for power which was her brother, Ptolemy XIII. Her brother died from drowning as he was trying to escape the battle that Caesars army waged agasint him. “Caesar establishes Cleopatra and another younger brother, Ptolemy XIV, as the rulers of Egypt. Caesar returns to Rome.”3 Caesar continued to conquer more land as he defeated the land of pompey. After gaining so much power some of the roman senate turned against him and assassinated him. Following approximately a month after Caesars assassination, Cleopatra returned to Egypt and consequently her brother PtolemyXIV died of poison. This undoubtedly happened under CLEOPATRAS orders as, “She wanted to make her son, Caesarion, co-regent with her as Ptolemy XV.”4 Cleopatra losing protection of Caesar sought at the love of Mark Antony. Cleopatra requested Antony to execute her younger city as she believed her to be a potential rival for the throne of Egypt. Her sister, Arsinoe was actually quite powerless but her enemies in Egypt could have potentially used her in a bid to dispose of
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.