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hsc history extension > case studies > Flashcards

case studies Flashcards

1
Q

what are the historiographical areas of debate surrounding Cleopatra VII?

A
  • constructions of Cleopatra’s identities and gender
  • role as Pharaoh
  • the relationship with Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Octavian
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2
Q

what are examples of different historians’ representations of Cleopatra?

A
  • ancient Roman writers: foreign, greedy, excessive, deceitful
  • female writers: can be either admirers or dislike her
  • medieval era writers: excessive, wealthy
  • Arab writers: genius, Pharaoh
  • Afrocentric writers: of African descent, powerful woman of history
  • archaeological sources: not beautiful, intelligent
  • Augustan propaganda: royal whore, deceitful
  • Romantic writers: femme fatale
  • modern female writers: inspirational, powerful, victim of history
  • 1934/1945/1963 films: stupid, lustful, deceitful
  • modern films: powerful
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3
Q

what historical sources are there regarding constructions of Cleopatra’s identities and gender?

A
  • archaeological sources: ‘Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt’, Joyce Tyldesley
  • Boccacio
  • Charlotte Bronte
  • Algernon Swinburne
  • O’Shaughnessy
  • Alexander Pushkin
  • Plutarch
  • Pliny the Elder
  • Lucy Hughes-Hallett
  • Kara Cooney
  • Alberto Angela
  • Shelley Haley
  • Netflix
  • Francine Prose
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4
Q

what do archaeological sources say regarding constructions of Cleopatra’s identities and gender?

A
  • “Within the wider, more Egyptian Egypt beyond Alexandria, the Cleopatra who graces the temple wall at Dendera (Greek Tentyra) appears as one of a long line of royal women presenting a uniform, age-defying propaganda of immortal queenship”
  • “[in 2007], Cleopatra was in the news. A silver coin had been ‘discovered’ in the collection of the Society of Antiquaries at Newcastle. […] The [media sources] were all discussing Cleopatra’s beauty (or rather her shocking lack of beauty) as if she were a modern celebrity”
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5
Q

what does Boccacio say regarding constructions of Cleopatra’s identities and gender?

A
  • “She was known throughout the world for her greed, cruelty, and excess”
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6
Q

what does Charlotte Bronte say regarding constructions of Cleopatra’s identities and gender?

A
  • “I calculated that
    this lady… was, indeed, extremely well fed”
  • “She lay half-reclined on a couch, why, it would be difficult to say;”
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7
Q

what does Algernon Swinburne say regarding constructions of Cleopatra’s identities and gender?

A
  • “Between the beauty of her brows /
    And the amorous deep lids divine.”
  • “Her great curled hair makes luminous / Her cheeks, her lifted throat and chin.”
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8
Q

what does O’Shaughnessy say regarding constructions of Cleopatra’s identities and gender?

A
  • “A splendid pageantry of all her East / Beauteous and captive,- so she did amass / The riches of each land in that one feast”
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9
Q

what does Alexander Pushkin say regarding constructions of Cleopatra’s identities and gender?

A
  • “So lustful that she often prostituted herself, and so beautiful that many men bought a night with
    her, at the price of their lives.”
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10
Q

what does Plutarch say regarding constructions of Cleopatra’s identities and gender?

A
  • “For indeed her own beauty, as they say, was not, in and of itself, completely incomparable, nor was it the sort that would astound those who saw her; but interaction with her was captivating, and her appearance, along with her persuasiveness in discussion and her character that accompanied every interchange, was stimulating.”
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11
Q

what does Pliny the Elder say regarding constructions of Cleopatra’s identities and gender?

A
  • “And so, with Antony eagerly anticipating what she would do, she took [a pearl] off [her earring] and dropped it in [a cup of vinegar], and when it was wasted away she swallowed it.”
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12
Q

what does Lucy Hughes-Hallett say regarding constructions of Cleopatra’s identities and gender?

A
  • (‘Cleopatra: Queen, Lover, Legend’ 2006):
  • “She is ‘the wickedest woman in history’; she is a pattern of female virtue. She is a sexual glutton; she is a true and tender lover who died for her man. She is a royal princess whose courage is proof of her nobility; she is an untrustworthy foreigner whose lasciviousness and cunning are typical of her race. She is a public benefactor, builder of aqueducts and lighthouses; she is a selfish tyrant who tortures slaves for her entertainment. She is as playful as a child; she is as old as sin. She is Cleopatra VII,”
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13
Q

what does Kara Cooney say regarding constructions of Cleopatra’s identities and gender?

A
  • (‘When Women Ruled the World’, 2018):
  • “Cleopatra made sure her arrival in Tarsus was a display of wealth and excess.”
  • “We should let ancient history be our guide and let women be our salvations once more.”
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14
Q

what does Alberto Angela say regarding constructions of Cleopatra’s identities and gender?

A
  • (‘Cleopatra: The Queen Who Challenged Rome and Conquered Eternity’, 2021):
  • “The story of Cleopatra is that of a woman capable of influencing the course of history like few others can.”
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15
Q

what does Shelley Haley say regarding constructions of Cleopatra’s identities and gender?

A
  • “In our Black oral tradition, Cleopatra becomes a symbolic construction voicing our Black African heritage so long suppressed by racism and the ideology of miscegenation.”
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16
Q

what does Netflix say regarding constructions of Cleopatra’s identities and gender?

A
  • (‘Queen Cleopatra’, 2023):
  • “I remember my grandmother saying to me, ‘I don’t care what they tell you in school, Cleopatra was black’.”
17
Q

what does say Francine Prose regarding constructions of Cleopatra’s identities and gender?

A
  • (‘Cleopatra: Her History, Her Myth’, 2022)
  • “Her life can be seen as a feminist story, if only because it includes so much that women were not supposed to do.”
18
Q

what historical sources are there regarding the role of Cleopatra as Pharaoh?

A
  • archaeological sources: ‘Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt’, Joyce Tyldesley
  • Appian
  • Cassius Dio
  • Cleopatra’s autograph
  • John, Bishop of Nikiu
  • Al Mas’udi
  • Ahmad Shawqi
  • Joyce Tyldesley
  • ‘Horrible Histories’
  • Katy Perry
19
Q

what do archaeological sources say regarding the role of Cleopatra as Pharaoh?

A
  • “She might appear as an Egyptian pharaoh in a portrait intended for an audience of native Egyptians, or in the style of the classical period in a Hellenising portrait bust, or looking very much like Mark Antony in a coin portrait.”
20
Q

what does Appian say regarding the role of Cleopatra as Pharaoh?

A
  • “Recently, Cleopatra had been exiled from Egypt, where previously she had ruled with her brother;”
21
Q

what does Cassius Dio say regarding the role of Cleopatra as Pharaoh?

A
  • “She won the throne of Egypt by love; hoping to become queen of the Romans by the same method, she failed and lost Egypt as well”
22
Q

what does Cleopatra’s autograph say regarding the role of Cleopatra as Pharaoh?

A
  • “originally thought to be a private contract, the document, Minnen demonstrates, is a royal decree”
23
Q

what does John, Bishop of Nikiu say regarding the role of Cleopatra as Pharaoh?

A
  • “And this woman, the most illustrious and wise amongst women, died in the fourteenth year of the reign of Caesar Augustus”
24
Q

what does Al Mas’udi say regarding the role of Cleopatra as Pharaoh?

A
  • “She was wise, tried her hands at philosophy and was a close companion to wise men”
25
Q

what does Ahmad Shawqi say regarding the role of Cleopatra as Pharaoh?

A
  • “What is surprising is that at the highest, I was daughter and queen of Egypt.”
26
Q

what does ‘Horrible Histories’ say regarding the role of Cleopatra as Pharaoh?

A
  • (with Lady Gaga imagery):
  • “Famous pharaoh coming at you”
  • “Finest linen robe, top prices”
27
Q

what does Katy Perry regarding the role of Cleopatra as Pharaoh?

A
  • “‘cos I’m coming at you like a dark horse”
  • “‘cos once you’re mine, there’s no going back”
28
Q

what historical sources are there regarding Cleopatra’s relationships with Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Octavian?

A
  • Augustan propaganda
  • Plutarch
  • Cassius Dio
  • Chaucer
  • Shakespeare
  • Dryden
  • Sarah Fielding
  • Horace
  • Kara Cooney
29
Q

what does Augustan propaganda say regarding Cleopatra’s relationships with Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Octavian?

A
  • “Indeed, after her death, Augustus instigated a propaganda campaign in which she was slandered as a royal whore […] Though Augustus wanted to erase all memory of her, the opposite occurred: the myth of Cleopatra was born.”
30
Q

what does Plutarch say regarding Cleopatra’s relationships with Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Octavian?

A
  • “But Antony, […] frequently surrendered his weapons to Cleopatra and was bewitched by her.”
  • “Cleopatra should have paid Fulvia tuition for schooling Antony to obey a woman, so docile and trained to obey a woman’s commands was he when she took him on.”
31
Q

what does Cassius Dio say regarding Cleopatra’s relationships with Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Octavian?

A
  • “She met [Octavian] humbly on a mat wearing only a tunic, but when he entered, she leapt up and prostrated herself; her hair was in disarray and her face had a crazed expression, but her voice trembled and her eyes were lifeless.”
32
Q

what does Chaucer say regarding Cleopatra’s relationships with Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Octavian?

A
  • “For love of Anthony, that was so dere:- / And this is storial (historial) sooth (truly), hit is no fable.”
33
Q

what does Shakespeare say regarding Cleopatra’s relationships with Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Octavian?

A
  • “Antony call: I see him rouse himself / To praise my noble act; I hear him mock / The luck of Caesar, which the gods give men”
34
Q

what does Dryden say regarding Cleopatra’s relationships with Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Octavian?

A
  • “No lovers liv’d so great, or died so well.”
35
Q

what does Sarah Fielding say regarding Cleopatra’s relationships with Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Octavian?

A
  • “The famous amours of Antony and Cleopatra… will more effectually impress the fatal Consequences of a mad intoxicated Lover, and a false insinuating Woman, than may be expected from the most admired or accomplished Novels”
36
Q

what does Horace say regarding Cleopatra’s relationships with Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Octavian?

A
  • “for she was clearly an enemy but [Mark Antony], as a citizen, might possibly be reasoned with.”
  • “Therefore, let no one consider [Mark Antony] a Roman, but rather an Egyptian”
37
Q

what does Kara Cooney say regarding Cleopatra’s relationships with Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Octavian?

A
  • (‘When Women Ruled the World’, 2008):
  • “It was a stroke of political genius to vilify the woman, Cleopatra, all the while allowing Octavian to commit to military aggression against his compatriot with impunity.”

hsc history extension (2 decks)

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