Cleopatra Gender Roles

Cleopatra was the only woman in all classical antiquity to rule independently, known for her charm and irresistible beauty, but also for being a ruthless and passionate leader who seduced Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. Depictions of Cleopatra, ranging from the propaganda of the time period, to portrayals in modern popular culture, as well as in historical written and archaeological sources, have differed for several reasons. The three primary reasons for these differences are gender bias and subjectivity, the social/historical context of the time period and varying political propaganda purposes.
As a female, Cleopatra was subject to copious amounts of gender bias from ancient historians. This was due to the large male demographic of historians

Cleopatra was depicted differently depending on the setting, views, values, customs and time of each society. Because these aspects are constantly changing and evolving over time, the ways that Cleopatra is shown has also differed due to time periods. A painting by Jean-Leon-Gerome in 1866, depicted Cleopatra as a tall, fair-skinned woman, pushing down one of her slaves. Gerome had visited Egypt in 1856 to gather inspiration for his Orientalist style of painting. The Orientalism movement, which was taking place at the time, meant many artists took an interest in Oriental themes and attempted to represent Middle-eastern and East-Asian cultures from an often Western perspective. Their representation of these societies usually extended from a patronising attitude towards Middle Eastern, Asian and North African cultures and thus, Gerome’s representation of Cleopatra was a reproduction of Oriental themes from a Western perspective, and reflected Western ideals of beauty and regality. His intentions, artistic style and time period meant Cleopatra was portrayed through a Western view, which would vary from other portrayals of her. In the 1963 film ‘Cleopatra’, featuring Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra, Fox wanted to express the lavishness and excessive luxury of the Egyptian Queen. This resulted in the film becoming the largest, most expensive film

These portrayals of Cleopatra are often unrealistically shown to deliver a specific political message to an audience, and thus, causes a different perception of her. The coins that were made during the time of her rule depicted a masculine, hook-nosed figure, very much in contrast to the ‘beautiful, charming and seductive’ image that is often shown of Cleopatra. It was due to contextual reasons that Cleopatra was shown this way, as these coins were made for the purpose of political propaganda to promote Cleopatra’s rule. A masculine figure would remind the Egyptian civilians of her ruling ancestors, the Ptolemies, and their power and lineage. During these times, a strong nose was a sign of strength in character and power. Compared to the desired looks of the 21st century, ie. ‘babyish’ young good looks, big eyes, small nose, Cleopatra’s portrayal on these coins was very different to our modern ideals of beauty. Moreover, the image of Cleopatra on these coins was not constructed to be a portrayal of her beauty or charm, rather, it was to promote her qualities of strength and power. As a result, Cleopatra’s varying portrayals can be attributed to the inclusion of political propaganda in her depictions. These sources would have varied depending on the political context and viewpoints of different