Cleopatra: The Historical and Literary Term Paper

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For example, when meeting with Mark Antony for the first time, Cleopatra showed up on a barge with a gilded stern, purple sails, and silver oars. The boat was sailed by her maids, who were dressed as sea nymphs. Cleopatra herself was dressed as Venus, the goddess of love. She reclined under a gold canopy, fanned by boys in Cupid costumes (Hinge.Com, 1).

Needless to say, Mark Antony was enchanted.

Cleopatra made a similar dramatic first impression on Julius Caesar. Wanting to meet with Caesar, but knowing her political enemies were likely to have her killed if she appeared openly in public, she had herself smuggled to Caesar rolled up in an oriental rug. When the rug was unrolled, there was Cleopatra. Caesar was enthralled by this fascinating woman, and it is said that he made his/her lover that very night. Cleopatra obviously continued to enthrall Caesar, as he fathered a son with her, and kept her openly as his mistress in Rome for two years, lavishing her with gifts and titles. It was partly because of the scandal Rome felt at its leader having so open an extra-marital affair that Caesar was assassinated. And Cleopatra, being no fool, knew that she was also in danger, and so quickly headed back for Egypt.

Cleopatra was also an extremely intelligent woman, and a shrewd politician. She spoke nine languages, and is said to be the first in her Ptolemaic line of Egyptian rulers to actually learn the Egyptian language. She married her brother, which was the common practice among Egyptian rulers, and, as her brother was a child at the time, she essentially ruled Egypt on her own for three years while her brother/husband remained in the background. It was only due to the jealousy that her brother's advisors felt at her power that led to her being ousted from power for a while.

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Cleopatra knew when Caesar showed up in Egypt wanting to mediate the dispute between her and her brother/husband that she was being presented with the perfect opportunity to get Rome itself on her side. Her seduction of Caesar and Caesar's subsequent backing of Cleopatra clearly demonstrates just how Cleopatra was able to successfully use her seduction skills as a political tool. She did the same thing in seducing Mark Antony; she knew she still had enemies in Rome after Caesar's assassination, and since Antony was ruling part of Rome by then, Cleopatra shrewdly aligned herself with him through her feminine wiles. Whether Cleopatra ever felt any real love for any of the men in her life is not known. That she was adept at combining sex and politics can not be denied.

The Cleopatra of our times is a caricature of the real Cleopatra. Cleopatra's real qualities of intelligence, political savvy, and skills of seduction and enchantment made her into a legend in her own time and for all time to come. However, these qualities have led modern admirers to believe her to be as beautiful as she was brilliant. After all, how else could she have had Caesar and Antony become so enamored of her? An examination of the historical record shows exactly how she achieved this, and how she made such an indelible impression on so many men who came into contact with her. Cleopatra was no beauty. Her magic was all in her personality, and her brains allowed her to use her personality to her advantage......

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