Term Paper on "Cleopatra by Michael Grant"

Term Paper 6 pages (1811 words) Sources: 1 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Cleopatra by Micheal Grant gives his readers a thought provoking idea as to how most of the records discussed by him were written from one point-of-view to another and thus was sentimentally partial in view in one way or another (Chabot, 2007). He gave argument very meaningfully that as "Westerners" all of us have stick most strongly to the "Occidental" account of matters, rather than anything leaning toward the other side, the "Orient." Further time after time he stated how previous writers who did not like Cleopatra changed facts around to criticize her, while, on the other hand, the opposite was factual and true of those who liked her (Chabot, 2007).

However, some reviewers also felt that Grant himself is biased to some extent, which is in Cleopatra's support, but only if we're aware of it, we can possibly recognize and separate the bias statements and read other perspective to obtain a well-formed sense of what in reality occurred (Chabot, 2007).

Furthermore, another interesting detail or aspect in the book was how many people, generally men apparently died during these ancient battles and how little their deaths were accounted for anything. In other words, life was a lot cheaper then than it is today. In Cleopatra's tenure, only the leading top dogs had the intellect or significance of individual rights that many of the people have it today (Chabot, 2007).

About the Author

Michael Grant (21 November 1914-4 October 2004) was an English traditionalist and numismatist who was counted among one of the few classical historians who won admiration and respect from academics and an amateur readership (Chabot, 2007). He wrote and edited over fifty books on nonfiction and translated that covered topics from "Roman coinage" and the "eruption of Vesuvius to the Gospels," describing himself as "one of the very few freelances in the field of ancient history: a rare phenomenon"(Chabot, 2007). In addition, in 1989, he published translation of Tacitus' Annales. He also published his autobiography, "My First Eighty Years," came in 1994 (Chabot, 2007).

Analysis of the Book

Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, was also a scholar, lover of Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, murderer and one of the most extraordinary women in history. The most eminent historian and classicist Michael Grant verified that her status and repute as a temptress was understandable (Chabot, 2007). However, by sorting out the sources behind the complication of fable, rumor and invention he proved that the well- accepted image of a boisterous woman who opted for a life of lavish luxury neglected her dealings of state is not true (Chabot, 2007).

According to the author, Cleopatra was a gifted linguist and the first of her Greek-speaking dynasty who learned Egyptian. She was known as the author of essay on agriculture, make-up and alchemy (Chabot, 2007). Her love affairs were cautiously calculated to re-establish her empire to its past greatness but at the same time she was cruel enemy to all those who stood in her way (Chabot, 2007).

It's a memorable portrait of an exceptional queen and her stormy life. However, her death on her golden couch in the palace at Alexandria proved her failure in life; her dreams of empire devastated; her lover Mark Antony killed himself while she at that time became a prisoner of her conqueror Octavian (Chabot, 2007).

Grant presented very accurate and well-researched version though at times while reading you may come across to several of his claims and theories such as he asserted that Octavian wanted Cleopatra to commit suicide because he was scared that the Romans would like to free her as they did her sister Arsinoe (Chabot, 2007). Arsinoe was the only disorganized Egyptian princess who challenged Julius Caesar (Chabot, 2007).

While, Cleopatra was the occidental temptress who had spell bounded and destroyed two of Rome's best men. She probably was the most unsympathetic and hated all Rome's enemies in history, which was extremely personal with Cleopatra. Therefore, the very thought of the bloodthirsty Romans that had an unexpected over-romantic aspect towards her is quite ridiculous (Chabot, 2007).

However, on the whole, his theories are thoroughly researched and well rationalized, even when one would disagree with them at some instances. In addition, the book has few very lovely portraits and a more comprehensive examination of Cleopatra's fore bearers as compared her usual biographies in other books (Chabot, 2007). The author has given an excellent perspective on the hypothetical 'inevitability' of Cleopatra's loss, and how the world would have turned out to be different had things gone the other way round (Chabot, 2007).

The scholarly, prolific Michael Grant's biography of Cleopatra is well worth reading. However, while reading the book, one should keep in mind that he is, if anything, a Cleo supporter. Even though he says that her entire family was a bunch of incestuous, brutal killers, but she was a shining light of the ancient world (Chabot, 2007).

In other words, the accurate content of the book and the writing style make this book a valuable experience (Chabot, 2007), but at the same time Grant's few unsubstantiated statements like Cleopatra character was flawless and/or justified given her times are absurd and senseless (Chabot, 2007).

May be his view is a result of being brought up under a female figurehead emperor. Cleopatra a Roman plaything set on the throne by Rome, for Rome's own expediency, and later removed from that throne when she started to behave against the interest of Rome.

By comparison, the antique gossips about Antony's adulteries and the like are for the most part given by him was without specification (Chabot, 2007). However, if anything comes up in the discussion regarding Cleopatra is right away dealt with detailed denials by Grant (Chabot, 2007).

Everyone is familiar with the story of Cleopatra through the plays of Shakespeare and with various other movies based on them. However, there are many with lesser known characters from Cleopatra's time that have been included in his book (Chabot, 2007). His explanation of the civil war between them is explained in detail without been dragging it. Two underlying reasons eventually led to Antony loosing Rome from his grip. Firstly, he failed to give due attention to Rome and had been absent for a long time. Secondly, he failed to think strategically. Upon reading this Shakespeare's drama, one gets the view that Cleopatra had been less of a potency behind great events; but had been more of a contributor towards great events. In the middle of all the Roman governmental affairs were her romantic affiliations with two other iconic figures, namely, Mark Antony and Julius Caesar. Nonetheless, despite these affairs, she considered herself to be an outsider in the world of politics and desired security from strong men who she gave favors. Several historians have put forward the notion that Shakespeare's view of Cleopatra's role has been very accurate and real (Grant, Powells.com).

Many reasons have been cited for problems in locating Cleopatra's life account. The most commonly cited reason has been her gender, which seems obvious since women had not been at the helm of affairs during that period. Another reason cited is that her country was extremely corrupt, despite the fact that it was extremely rich. For this reason, it was preordained that the country will be managed by that man who has the skills to run the affairs smoothly and get rid of corruption.

Cleopatra belonged to the Ptolemaic Dynasty which originated from Ptolemy who had served as a general to Alexander and had also been his successor. These leaders took a great deal of pride in their ancestry and called themselves to be pure Macedonian blood. This perception was evident when they displayed identical physical flaws of their families as they all were closely related to one another.

Most of these leaders mated with one another and refused to mate with those outside of their race. After several generations, they became far less skillful than their original ancestor, i.e. Ptolemy; and were shrunk to small factions. Most of the times one would see brothers and sister-wives groping over the behavior of their kids; their strengths and weaknesses and their rights and wrongs. They were mostly driven by eunuchs who had gained a great deal of power and authority. Caesar, upon his arrival, was confronted with these circumstances (Grant, Powells.com).

Amongst, all her brothers and sisters, Cleopatra was the smartest and even though she was not the oldest, she had unseated her elder sister and brother. While her husband-brother (the younger brother) was the joint ruler, Cleopatra was considered to be the ultimate ruler. Before, the arrival of Caesar she had been dethroned by a eunuch and her brother was given the throne.

Caesar arrived on the scene as he had been hunting down "Pompey" who had been assassinated by "Pothinus" who was a eunuch. Caesar soon became a judge between the two rival groups and at this point in time Cleopatra bestowed herself to Caesar in a carpet all rolled up. This act… READ MORE

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