Start Date
4-9-2021 1:30 PM
End Date
4-9-2021 2:45 PM
Disciplines
History
Subjects
Cleopatra (queen of Egypt : -30 B.C.), Egypt -- History -- 332-30 B.C, Queens -- Egypt -- History
Description
Abstract: In the course of history, many people are fascinated by the “other” but this fascination stems from works that are not factual depictions of an event or person. If the personification of historical figures is continuously perpetuated in fictional works, how we interpret the evidence can then be affected by these works. This is especially true of the ancient women in power in Ancient Egypt, but specifically in the case of Cleopatra VII, who was the last Pharaoh of Egypt. This study is designed to look at how desire vs fact changes the narrative, and how we need to be cautious about exotifying the “other.” Cleopatra VII’s image in modernity has been shaped by her portrayal in Shakespeare and Dante, as well as in Renaissance and contemporary artwork (including film). By keeping this in mind, it is not wrong to be fascinated by the “other” but it raises the question of how much of a historical person’s character can we really know if the facts we perceive to be true are affected by fictional manipulations of them.
PART OF SESSION 3C. HISTORICAL MEMORY:
Comment: Caoimhin De Barra, Gonzaga University
Chair: William Burghart, University of Washington
Isabeau Newbury, Carroll College, undergraduate student
“Cleopatra VII: How Modernity Altered One of Egypt’s Most Infamous Pharaohs”
Avery Powell, Western Washington University, graduate student
“Monuments in the Dark: Memory and its Preservation in Twelfth-Century Orkney”
Felicia Thompson Zaleski, Idaho State University, graduate student
“Red, White, and Blue Tartan: Modern Scottish Cultural Preservation in the American West”
Rights
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/35237
Included in
Cleopatra VII: How Modernity Altered One of Egypt’s Most Infamous Pharaohs
Abstract: In the course of history, many people are fascinated by the “other” but this fascination stems from works that are not factual depictions of an event or person. If the personification of historical figures is continuously perpetuated in fictional works, how we interpret the evidence can then be affected by these works. This is especially true of the ancient women in power in Ancient Egypt, but specifically in the case of Cleopatra VII, who was the last Pharaoh of Egypt. This study is designed to look at how desire vs fact changes the narrative, and how we need to be cautious about exotifying the “other.” Cleopatra VII’s image in modernity has been shaped by her portrayal in Shakespeare and Dante, as well as in Renaissance and contemporary artwork (including film). By keeping this in mind, it is not wrong to be fascinated by the “other” but it raises the question of how much of a historical person’s character can we really know if the facts we perceive to be true are affected by fictional manipulations of them.
PART OF SESSION 3C. HISTORICAL MEMORY:
Comment: Caoimhin De Barra, Gonzaga University
Chair: William Burghart, University of Washington
Isabeau Newbury, Carroll College, undergraduate student
“Cleopatra VII: How Modernity Altered One of Egypt’s Most Infamous Pharaohs”
Avery Powell, Western Washington University, graduate student
“Monuments in the Dark: Memory and its Preservation in Twelfth-Century Orkney”
Felicia Thompson Zaleski, Idaho State University, graduate student
“Red, White, and Blue Tartan: Modern Scottish Cultural Preservation in the American West”