Cleopatra: A Sphinx RevisitedMargaret M. Miles University of California Press, 2011 M09 1 - 250 pages Cleopatra—a brave, astute, and charming woman who spoke many languages, entertained lavishly, hunted, went into battle, eliminated siblings to consolidate her power, and held off the threat of Imperial Rome to protect her country as long as she could—continues to fascinate centuries after she ruled Egypt. These wide-ranging essays explore such topics as Cleopatra’s controversial trip to Rome, her suicide by snake bite, and the afterlife of her love potions. They view Cleopatra from the Egyptian perspective, and examine the reception in Rome of Egyptian culture, especially of its religion and architecture. They discuss films about her, and consider what inspired Egyptomania in early modern art. Together, these essays illuminate Cleopatra’s legacy and illustrate how it has been used and reused through the centuries. |
Contents
Cleopatra Queen of Egypt | 21 |
Facts and Fantasies | 37 |
Cleopatra Isis and the Formation of Augustan Rome | 78 |
The Amazing Afterlife of Cleopatras Love Potions | 132 |
The Last of the Ptolemies and the Egyptian | 150 |
Cleomania in Mass Culture | 172 |
Every Mans Cleopatra | 195 |
Epilogue | 208 |
Contributors | 233 |
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Actium Alexander Alexandria Alma-Tadema ancient Egypt Annius antiquity Antony and Cleopatra Antony’s Apis Apollo appears Arsinoe Arsinoe II artists Ashton Augustan Augustus authors Belvedere Borgia British Caesarion century Cicero Cinema classical Claudette Colbert Cleopatra VII Cleopatra’s death cult cultural Dio Cassius discussion divine dynastic early Egyptian queen Egyptomania Elizabeth Taylor female figure film goddess Goldast Greek Hellenistic hieroglyphs History Hollywood Hughes-Hallett humanist imagery imperial inscriptions interest in Egypt Isis Iulius Iversen Julius Caesar Laocoön later Latin letters literary Marc Antony modern monuments Museum myth Nile nineteenth-century obelisk Octavian Orientalism Osiris paintings pharaoh Photo Plutarch poem political pope popular Priapeia Ptolemaic queens Ptolemy Ptolemy XIII regina Renaissance representations role Roman Rome Rome’s ruler Sarapis scene scholars Schoppe Schoppe’s sexual Shakespeare snakes Soranus star statue suicide Swanson symbols temple Theda Theda Bara tion tradition uraeus Vatican Victorian Viterbo woman women