Was Cleopatra A Deceitful Woman

Queen Cleopatra Thea Philopator VII, born 69 B.C and died about 30 B.C. had a few dimensions of leadership. First, she was pioneering. Cleopatra VII was charismatic, dynamic, bold, and good at making connections. She was cunning in her pursuits to get what she wanted. One time, she slipped through the enemies line and was smuggled secretly into Egypt rolled up in a carpet to see Julius Caesar in order to become his ally. (Peters, 2017) When she lost the throne to her brother, Cleopatra did not want to accept the loss and produced a militia that attacked her brother in Pelusium. Her brother was drowned when she won the future battle. (Peters,

Cleopatra was years ahead of her time in terms of political agenda and intellectual warfare. Cleopatra should be known as an important individual in history because of her influence in the direction of Egyptian history. She was extremely intelligent, calculating, and a master of manipulation. She used her power of sexual appeal to benefit herself and her status with society. Cleopatra had strong relations with powerful men of the era, but she still managed to surpass them with her superior intellect, and abuse their lustful obedience. Her beauty was a subject and also an inspiration for art in popular Western culture. Cleopatra’s importance in Europe should be known because she greatly impacted social development.

Political turmoil also shaped this period. Soon after they assumed power, complications arose between Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII. Eventually Cleopatra fled to Syria, where she assembled an army to defeat her rival in order to declare the throne for herself. In 48, she returned to Egypt with her military might and faced her brother at Pelusium, located on the empire’s eastern edge. Most of what we know about Cleopatra was written after her death when it was politically expedient to portray her as a threat to Rome and its stability. Thus, some of what we know about Cleopatra may have been exaggerated or misrepresented by those sources. Cassius Dio, one of the ancient sources that tells her story, summarizes her story as “She captivated the two greatest Romans of her day, and

Cleopatra’s reign over Egypt started from the deaths of her two elder sisters and the death of her father. Her

Cleopatra, Greek queen of Egypt, was born at the beginning of 69 B.C and one of the few women rulers in ancient Egypt. Her father was Ptolemy XII And Cleopatra was the last pharaoh in Egypt. She is known as clever, covetous, skilled, beguiling and manipulative. Cleopatra’s physical features are not certain and there is not enough information about her profile. “The colour of her eyes and of her hair is not known; nor can it be said whether her skin was white as alabaster, like that of many of her Macedonian fellow countrywomen, or whether it had that olive tone so often observed amongst the Greeks. Even her beauty, or rather the degree of her beauty, is not clearly defined.” Cleopatra was born at the finish of the Ptolemaic dynasty, because,

After Ptolemy XIII has his guardians revolt against Cleopatra, she was forced to flee to Syria, leaving the throne open to her brother and meaning she had to work to gain her power back. Cleopatra found an opportunity when Julius Caesar, one of the most powerful men in Rome at that time, arrived at Alexandria during his war with Pompey the Great. It was soon clear that Caesar and Ptolemy XIII were not amicable after Ptolemy presented the head of Pompey to Caesar, who, instead of being pleased with the defeat of his enemy, believed this move to be an insult to the greatness of his opponent. This gave Cleopatra the chance to create a connection between herself and Caesar, who prolonged his stay in Alexandria. Cleopatra smuggled herself in a rug into the palace where the Roman leader was staying, and impressed him with her intelligence, scheming and desirability that ran further, making her stand out from the rest of the women who tempted Caesar. It was not long before Caesar and Cleopatra began an affair, and he reinstated her power over Egypt, causing an end to the ruling of Ptolemy XIII and with it came the birth of Caesarion, their child and intended heir to the throne. Throughout this whole ordeal, it becomes apparent how calculating and knowledgeable Cleopatra was on how to influence the leader of Rome and to become appealing in a way that would

Cleopatra was an important figure in a pivotal age of Rome, when the empire’s entire political sphere was unstable; several men were vying for the ultimate control of Rome and ultimately the world at that time. Cleopatra VII became the queen of Egypt when she was only a teenager. She was different from past Egyptian rulers, because she was committed to seeing all sides of a situation and then calculating what to do. For example, Cleopatra’s family was actually of Greek descent, but Cleopatra tried to immerse herself in the Egyptian customs by

Queen Cleopatra VII was a powerful, intelligent, and passionate woman born from royal blood of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. As a successor of Hellenistic people and Alexander the Great she was not of an Egyptian blood but born in Alexandria and speaking Egyptian language. When her father Ptolemy Auletes died, Cleopatra was in the age of eighteen. She had three sisters Cleopatra VI, Berenice IV, Arsinoe IV two of them were older than her and one younger, and two younger brothers named Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV too. Cleopatra VII and her brother Ptolemy XIII inherited the kingdom of their father as it was written his will. Because of the law in Egypt of that time Cleopatra was unable to rule by her own without the presence of a male coruler, a brother or son. As a result she ruled together with her brother who she get married to although he was only twelve years old.

(“Cleopatra: The Woman…”) In 49 B.C., Cleopatra was forced to flee to Syria after Pothinus, Achillas, and Theodotus, who were Ptolemy XIII’s advisors, sought to overthrow her. They convinced the Egyptian people that Cleopatra was the cause of the famine that they were experiencing. (“Cleopatra.”)(“Cleopatra VII’s Childhood…”) She smuggled herself into the royal palace in a rug to plead her case with Julius Caesar. Cleopatra and Caesar became lovers. Ptolemy XIII discovered this and declared war on Caesar. Caesar overpowered Ptolemy XIII’s army and Ptolemy XIII drowned in the Nile River while trying to escape. (Cleopatra: The Woman…”)

Cleopatra was a woman. “Cleopatra stood at one of the most dangerous intersections in history: that of women and power. Clever women, Euripides had warned hundreds of years earlier, were dangerous” (112). The number of successful female leaders up until this day is drastically smaller than the male ones, and even now in 21st century the stereotype of a leader is a male. How did Cleopatra manage to go around this stereotype and become such a successful ruler? She got the men of her time obsessed with her. When thinking about power, we should remember Aristotle’s saying, “Yet what difference does it make weather the women rule or the rulers are ruled by women? The result is the same”. Cleopatra managed to be a ruler herself, while ruling the most influential men of her time. No one before, or after Cleopatra was ever able to do this again, but to this day she is a role model. She proved that not only men can be in charge and that women can do as much as a man

Her dynasty was over, and she proved to be the last pharaoh. With her death Cleopatra has achieved immortality through the personal story of love and tragedy. When we think of Cleopatra we automatically think of this story. But upon the research I learned that there were others and she was actually Cleopatra 7. Many books, plays, movies and stories have been made about the great queen of the Nile. Some tell us different sides of the story. Each have a little bit of difference in them so who really knows which one to believe. One thing is certain; Cleopatra was a great female ruler for her 22 years as the Egyptian queen. Ironically enough she wasn’t even Egyptian or roman for that matter. She and her family were Greek. There are also many works that suggest that she was not a very pretty woman. Cleopatra’s happiness didn’t last, which seems that just like in all love stories her life doesn’t have a happy ending. Another side of the story is that Marc killed himself after being surrounded by Octavia’s troops, and then Cleopatra being held prisoner which is why she killed herself. I was very intrigued by each story that I read of Cleopatra’s life and death and her rule, and I feel like I learned a lot. I think I will go on to watch some of the movies to see them played

Images and interpretations of a person can change over time. Such movement is paralleled with changes in opinion and morals throughout generations. Cleopatra the seventh is subject to this fluctuation. Ancient images and interpretations differ greatly to the impression left today merely by her name. Chris Dumasis, a modern day historian amplifies this theory in ‘Interpretations of Cleopatra’. She argues, “women have been demeaned of their true substance since the early time of patriarchal society.” Taken into account, this argument entails that when studying ancient sources it must be understood that at times, only a very narrow view of the events are presented

Deliberately falsifying information for personal gain causing an ensuing conflict is a motif clearly contrived within William Shakespeare’s tragedy Antony and Cleopatra. Deception is represented within the protagonist, the queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, a tempting seductress who has a false relationship with Antony only for personal motives. Within the play Cleopatra fabricates illnesses, deceives Antony’s love through her betrayal at sea and likens Caesar to a god, Antony’s enemy, all to achieve attention and advance politically. Created in 1606 during the Elizabethan era the characters within the play are based on an imaginary and partially real concept of historical characters. Shakespeare showcases Cleopatra as a woman unlike many of the time, holding power over man. In the visual representation a mask, ships on a stormy sea and a serpent are used to represent the act of deception. Antony’s fatal attraction to the queen, and Cleopatra’s hidden desires bind the two together to create a falsified love on public display that is fueled by deception.

Cleopatra was a noteworthy Egyptian Pharaoh whose legacy and role was shaped by her experiences and achievements in ancient Egypt. It can be argued Cleopatra was a significant figure and her role and legacy was formed by her experiences, achievements because she stood for a symbol of power and strength in a time where society was male dominated. Cleopatra’s personality and early life impacted the beginning of her rise to power and in 51 BC she became sole leader of the Egypt. The key events in Cleopatra’s reign and the role she played during the alliance between herself and Caesar impacted on her reign. External factors informed her motives, which pushed her to make decisions during her rule, as it significantly impacted her relationship with Mark Antony. Cleopatra’s legacy had short and long-term effects; the consequences of her decisions pushed her to commit suicide, the events and choices she made during her life portrayed her significance.

The division of the royal family provided Cleopatra with an opportunity to use Caesar to kill her siblings in battle. As Cleopatra wanted, Caesar reinforced his troops and easily defeated the rebels resulting in Ptolemy drowning while retreating. Following this Caesar captured Arsinoe, who had survived and sent her back to his country of Rome as a prisoner. Caesar also executed numerous enemies of Cleopatra and imprisoned others who opposed her. Caesar also supplied Cleopatra with a child, whom after Ptolemy XIV’s death she made co-regent as a three year couldn't interfere with her plans (Schiff, 2010).