Free Essays on Cleopatra

Cleopatra VII Cleopatra The Queen of Egypt "Life of Cleopatra" by Craig T. Staunton Cleopatra VII's family had been ruling Egypt since 305 B.C., when Ptolemy I declared himself King of Egypt sometime after Alexander the Great's death. The Ptolemy family was of Macedonian decent, not of Egyptian. The capital city which they ruled from, Alexandria, had been established by Alexander and is a port city on the Mediterranean and Nile River. This made Alexandria very important commercially, and it also became an intellectually and artistically important city as well. Cleopatra VII's father was Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos "Auletes", who began his rule of Egypt in 80 B.C. He was not well respected and thought weak, as is exhibited by his popular nickname "Auletes", which means "flute-player" in Greek. Cleopatra VII's mother could possibly be Cleopatra V Tryphaena, who either died or disappeared in 68 B.C., right after Cleopatra VII's birth in 69 B.C. Cleopatra VII had two older sisters, Cleopatra VI and Berenice IV, and one younger sister, Arsinoe IV. She also had two y! ounger brothers, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV. In 58 B.C. Berenice IV (and perhaps Cleopatra VI) took over the kingdom, forcing Ptolemy XII "Auletes" to flee to Rome. Berenice IV ruled the kingdom until Ptolemy XII "Auletes" regained the throne in 55 B.C. Berenice IV was beheaded, and Cleopatra VI disappeared in the intervening time between 58 and 55 B.C. Ptolemy XII "Auletes" then ruled until his death in 51 B.C. His will named Cleopatra VII and Ptolemy XIII as heirs to the throne. Leaders in Rome were named as guardians and were to uphold the choice of Ptolemy XII for the two to marry and jointly rule Egypt. These brother-sister marriages had been established as custom by Ptolemy II when he married his sister Arsinoe II. (From now on Cleopatra VII will be referred to simply as Cleopatra unless otherwise indicated) Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII ruled jointly and did marry, thou... Free Essays on Cleopatra Free Essays on Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Cleopatra The Queen of Egypt "Life of Cleopatra" by Craig T. Staunton Cleopatra VII's family had been ruling Egypt since 305 B.C., when Ptolemy I declared himself King of Egypt sometime after Alexander the Great's death. The Ptolemy family was of Macedonian decent, not of Egyptian. The capital city which they ruled from, Alexandria, had been established by Alexander and is a port city on the Mediterranean and Nile River. This made Alexandria very important commercially, and it also became an intellectually and artistically important city as well. Cleopatra VII's father was Ptolemy XII Neos Dionysos "Auletes", who began his rule of Egypt in 80 B.C. He was not well respected and thought weak, as is exhibited by his popular nickname "Auletes", which means "flute-player" in Greek. Cleopatra VII's mother could possibly be Cleopatra V Tryphaena, who either died or disappeared in 68 B.C., right after Cleopatra VII's birth in 69 B.C. Cleopatra VII had two older sisters, Cleopatra VI and Berenice IV, and one younger sister, Arsinoe IV. She also had two y! ounger brothers, Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV. In 58 B.C. Berenice IV (and perhaps Cleopatra VI) took over the kingdom, forcing Ptolemy XII "Auletes" to flee to Rome. Berenice IV ruled the kingdom until Ptolemy XII "Auletes" regained the throne in 55 B.C. Berenice IV was beheaded, and Cleopatra VI disappeared in the intervening time between 58 and 55 B.C. Ptolemy XII "Auletes" then ruled until his death in 51 B.C. His will named Cleopatra VII and Ptolemy XIII as heirs to the throne. Leaders in Rome were named as guardians and were to uphold the choice of Ptolemy XII for the two to marry and jointly rule Egypt. These brother-sister marriages had been established as custom by Ptolemy II when he married his sister Arsinoe II. (From now on Cleopatra VII will be referred to simply as Cleopatra unless otherwise indicated) Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIII ruled jointly and did marry, thou... Free Essays on Cleopatra According to Theophile Gautier ," Cleopatra is a person to be wondered at (†¦) whom dreamers find always at the end of their dreams." The story of Cleopatra’s life has been told in many different forms. Cleopatra in all forms was a woman of mystery, power, sin, and eroticism. When you think of the name Cleopatra what comes to mind? Many people may think that she was a saint for not just reason and that she committed suicide in the face of adversity. Other people may think that she was a deceiving, power hungry killer that had an obsession with men. In the two thousand years since Cleopatra’s death the vision of her has changed immensely (Hughes-Hallet 1). According to Lucy Hughes –Hallett, â€Å"the vision of Cleopatra has been recreated over and over again, each time in a form that fits the prejudices and fantasies of the age that produced it â€Å"(1). For example, Cecil B. Demille created a movie about her life making her â€Å"the wickedest woman in history â€Å" (1). According to George Bernhard Shaw she was an emotionally disturbed sex kitten; to the painters of the Renaissance she was a helpless victim; to the poets of Romanticism she was a terrifying femme fatale, and to Arabic historian Al- Masudi she was a scholar and a sag e (1). Cleopatra’s personality was one of the things about her that people liked in ancient Egypt, and as of today. In ancient Egypt women were often not considered intelligent and didn’t participate in the arts. Cleopatra, however, was an exception to the old tradition (Thomas 4). According to historian Henry Thomas, Cleopatra was very intelligent and often read literature with scholars in the palace library. She could have intelligent conversations about painting, sculpture, poetry, theology, statecraft, philosophy and religion with some of the most looked up to men of her time (4). Above all of Cleopatra’s sought -after traits her hunger for power overruled. She had a marvelous passion for the g... Free Essays on Cleopatra Cleopatra VII’s life has been proven to be very interesting, but also weird. The Ptolemy’s and Cleopatra were very clever at manipulating people. Cleopatra also had many affairs with men such as Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. Cleopatra was born in the capitol of Egypt, Alexandria in 69 BC. Cleopatra was the daughter of the pharaoh of Egypt, Ptolemy XII, who was also nicknamed Auletes, and his Queen, Cleopatra V Tryphaena. Cleopatra V was Auletes’ sister but it was perfectly normal for those of the Ptolemaic dynasty to marry their siblings. Many people may think it is very gross and wrong, but what they don’t understand is that they were in a whole different time; in their day and time it was just normal. Cleopatra’s father wasn’t a strong ruler at all; he was actually pretty weak. He was also proven to be a heartless ruler. That is why in 58 BC he had been overthrown by the Plebeians. In 55 BC he had regained his thrown and had his daughter, Berenice and her husband beheaded since they had taken over after he was overthrown and then ran off to Rome. Cleopatra had five sibilings. She had two younger brothers named Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV. She had two older sisters named Cleopatra VI, Berenice, and one younger sister named Arsinoe. Cleopatra VI had died of anonymous reasons that we do not know. Arsinoe died at Cleopatra’s request. She made a deal with Mark Antony, a man that became her husband and true love, she would finance his attack on Parthia and he would help to fight off her enemies and kill her sister Arisnoe. He did come back to her later too, to ask her to feed his men and round him up a fleet. She did this in exchange for Lebanon, Turkey, Syria, and Jordan. Cleopatra and her brother, Ptolemy XIII inherited the throne in 51 BC after their father died. Cleopatra was just about around 18 years old when she married brother, Ptolemy XIII who was about 12 years old, but it was just a marriage of convenienc...