Cleopatra
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- Category: Arts
- Date Submitted: 01/09/2011 05:02 AM
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Assignment 02.
Responding to Feedback.
Original Version with Comments.
Part 1 – Cleopatra.
What impression does Dio give of the relationship between Cleopatra and Antony, and how does this impression relate to other Roman attitudes found in the chapter?
The impression that Dio gives of the relationship between Cleopatra and Antony is that of a partnership, albeit a seemingly unbalanced and negative one where Cleopatra was the dominant partner and Antony seemed to be the submissive one. ( good point to make, though in future essays try to avoid single-sentence paragraphs. Perhaps just be a bit clearer about what the essay will be about. You could start off your introduction with something like, ‘This essay will outline Dio’s view...and then relate it to wider Roman views’, then start your analysis in the second paragraph.
Dio paints a picture of Antony being under Cleopatra’s spell to the point where “Antony followed on foot together with her eunuchs” and “wore clothes which were completely alien to Roman custom” (AA100 Assignment Booklet Page 18). He shows (from his point of view) that Antony had disowned his own culture for (that of) the Egyptian one, which included him being portrayed as Egyptian gods alongside Cleopatra.( He also states that as well as Antony, Cleopatra “enchanted and enthralled all the others who counted for anything with him” (AA100 Assignment Booklet Page 18). And what does this suggest about their relationship?
Although this description of the relationship between Cleopatra and Antony seems to be full of facts, it must be remembered that Cassius Dio wrote this extract some 200 years after the actual events and therefore he could have been writing a narrative based on ideas that had been passed down by word of mouth through the Roman culture. Interesting discussion, but is this helping you to answer the set question? And try to avoid...
Responding to Feedback.
Original Version with Comments.
Part 1 – Cleopatra.
What impression does Dio give of the relationship between Cleopatra and Antony, and how does this impression relate to other Roman attitudes found in the chapter?
The impression that Dio gives of the relationship between Cleopatra and Antony is that of a partnership, albeit a seemingly unbalanced and negative one where Cleopatra was the dominant partner and Antony seemed to be the submissive one. ( good point to make, though in future essays try to avoid single-sentence paragraphs. Perhaps just be a bit clearer about what the essay will be about. You could start off your introduction with something like, ‘This essay will outline Dio’s view...and then relate it to wider Roman views’, then start your analysis in the second paragraph.
Dio paints a picture of Antony being under Cleopatra’s spell to the point where “Antony followed on foot together with her eunuchs” and “wore clothes which were completely alien to Roman custom” (AA100 Assignment Booklet Page 18). He shows (from his point of view) that Antony had disowned his own culture for (that of) the Egyptian one, which included him being portrayed as Egyptian gods alongside Cleopatra.( He also states that as well as Antony, Cleopatra “enchanted and enthralled all the others who counted for anything with him” (AA100 Assignment Booklet Page 18). And what does this suggest about their relationship?
Although this description of the relationship between Cleopatra and Antony seems to be full of facts, it must be remembered that Cassius Dio wrote this extract some 200 years after the actual events and therefore he could have been writing a narrative based on ideas that had been passed down by word of mouth through the Roman culture. Interesting discussion, but is this helping you to answer the set question? And try to avoid...