Cleopatras Beauty Essay -- Egypt History Papers

Cleopatras BeautyWas Cleopatra beautiful? This is a evidently straightforward question but there are many characteristics of salmon pink and all must be considered when applied to Cleopatra. Firstly, what is stunner? Beauty is unlike for every person and every time period. The old separateing that dishful is in the eye of the beholder remains truthful today. It is not single the person that dictates what is beautiful the time period during which beauty is portrayed must be taken into account as well. The aesthetic ideal of the conversion is quite different from that of todays typical beauty. When applying these questions to Cleopatra, the only way to judge her beauty is by the works in which she is depicted. One obvious obstacle with this notion is that everyone creates his or her works during different time periods. Another problem with the word picture of Cleopatras beauty is the artists hidden agenda. Every artist that depicts Cleopatra has a reason for portraiture her in the way that they do, weather it be to show what a fair sex should not be or to promote anti-orientalism. The only concrete test copy of Cleopatras appearance is the marble statues and the coins that bear her face. Are these even the authoritative Cleopatra? The real Cleopatras beauty is a mix between physical beauty and unquestionable beauty. Actual beauty can be defined as the fundamental interaction of personality and sensuality with the external. Cleopatra is lauded for her beauty but this beauty is, in fact, developed beauty. Would we consider Cleopatra beautiful in this day and age? I say no. Perhaps if we knew her and were ensnared by her legendary charms, she would be beautiful to us but one must decipher her personality before discovering her real beauty.PHYSICAL BEAUTYPhysica... ...100 C.E.. Trans. Sir Thomas North (1579). Ed. Geoffrey Bullough, Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare. Vol. V. capital of South Carolina UP, 1964.Pomeroy, Sarah B. Goddesses, Whores, Wives, and Slaves Women in Classical Antiquity. sore York Schocken Books, 1995.Pomeroy, Sarah B. Women in Hellenistic Egypt From Alexander to Cleopatra. New York Schocken Books, 1984.Roddam, Frank. Cleopatra Leonor Varela. ABC, 1999. Shakespeare, William. Anthony and Cleopatra 1608. Ed. Michael Neill. Oxford UP, 1994.Sidney, Mary. The Tragedy of Antonie. In Renaissance Drama By Women Texts and documents, Ed. S.P. Cerasano and Marion Wynne-Davies, 19-42. New York Routledge, 1992.The real number Cleopatra Cleopatras Palace. Discovery, 1999.Wolf, Naomi. The Beauty Myth How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women. New York William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1991.