|
||||
  
 
 |
Cleopatra depicted as powerful, but had many sides, professor says By
Maria Moncur "You can make her into almost anything you want," professor Christopher Pelling said of Cleopatra VII in his warm, British accent. Pelling, a specialist in the historiography of republican-era Rome from University College, Oxford, addressed USU students Tuesday in a presentation entitled, "The Serpent of the Old Nile: Cleopatra?" USU's department of women and gender studies, history and classics, hosted the event, which focused on illuminating both the historical and mythological aspects of the queen's legacy. "She has been portrayed with glamour, menace, sex, and power," Pelling said, "but I want to concentrate on her almost success, or what could have been." Much of the presentation centered around various slides that Pelling showed of Cleopatra depicted in Hollywood and Cleopatra as an actual historical figure. Many of the images portrayed, downplayed her power. Pelling said that is because most often throughout history, the stories being written and told of Cleopatra were relayed by men. In reality, Pelling said, Cleopatra had amazing power as a woman, especially in the era of 32 B.C. Pelling spoke of the history of the queen, which included her love affairs with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. He used quotations from Shakespeare's play Antony and Cleopatra and other literary works to uncover the story behind her life, her power, and her tragic death. As a slide of Elizabeth Taylor, playing Cleopatra, lit up the screen toward the end of the show, the audience had a clearer view about what is myth and what is truth behind the Egyptian Monarch, Cleopatra VII. Was she really the serpent of the Old Nile?
|
Archived Months:
January
1999 January
2000 January
2001 |
||