Join Dr. Sheila Ager, Professor in Classical Studies and Dean of Arts, for this special lecture.
Cleopatra VII of Egypt is one of the most famous women in history. She is also one of the least understood. We are forced to view Cleopatra through a dense screen of hostile propaganda embellished by two thousand years of mythmaking. Her Roman enemies were relentless in their portrayal of her as a corrupt, lascivious, and vicious Eastern ruler, the absolute antithesis of the virtuous, pious, and chaste Roman matron. This talk will explore the real (?) Cleopatra behind the veil of bigotry, misogyny, and abhorrence.
Dr. Ager is a scholar of Greek history, specializing in the Hellenistic age – the years between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the suicide of Cleopatra in 30 BC. Often engaging interdisciplinary approaches, much of her research has centred on interstate relations in this period, including peaceful dispute resolution.
