Cleopatra VII

Hey Everyone ;)

I was just thinking what to blog about, when I remembered one of the books I read, Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra. Because I’ve heard so much about this historical character, and also because I am Egyptian myself and intrigued by the ancient history of my country, I decided to write a short biography about the latest Pharaoh that even Julius Caesar hadn’t been able to resist.

“For (as they say) it was not because her beauty in itself was so striking that it stunned the onlooker, but the inescapable impression produced by daily contact with her: the attractiveness in the persuasiveness of her talk, and the character that surrounded her conversation was stimulating. It was a pleasure to hear the sound of her voice, and she tuned her tongue like a many-stringed instrument expertly to whatever language she chose…” (From Plutarch’s Life of Mark Anthony)

Cleopatra VII, also known as Cleopatra Thea Philopater (meaning “the Goddess Cleopatra, the beloved of her father”), was born in 69 B.C. in the City of Alexandria (Egypt), and died aged only 39. In 51 B.C., Pharaoh Ptolemy XII passed away and left his kingdom to his eighteen year old daughter, Cleopatra, and her only twelve-year-old brother Ptolemy XIII, because a woman was legally oblige d to have either a brother or a son for her consort. However, she soon dropped his name from any official documents and did what was best for her country, regardless of the Ptolemaic rule. She was the last and most well-known queen of Egypt (the last of the Ptolemy dynasty), before the rule of Egypt finally passed to the Romans under the rule of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus. Though she was not of Egyptian but of Macedonian origin, she was a compassionate ruler, who truly cared for her folk. She had broken almost 300 years of Ptolemaic rule that had been filled with rebellion and high taxes. And to prove her loyalty to her people, she used the country’s native language to communicate with them, lowered taxes for farmers and helped to boost Egypt’s economy. Cassius Dio, one of the great ancient sources, describes her as the woman who was brilliant enough to use her feminine charm to captivate the two greatest Romans of her day, in order to maintain Egypt’s power. Her charisma, strength and indomitability made her one the greatest queens- and inspired scores of writers and artists through the centuries.

Shakespeare’s Cleopatra is portrayed as the unparalleled beauty, which is jealous, possessive, but fiercely loyal to the love of her life: Marc Anthony. No matter how often they fight, they always come back to each other, as if there is nothing more important than their love for each other. She has an obvious fondness for high drama, and wants to keep Anthony all by herself; of course, he can’t withstand her charm, and even neglects his duties as a Roman ruler. After Anthony’s tragic death, she feels that there is no reason for her to live and decides to follow his example to meet him in afterlife.