Signs of Cleopatra

Cleopatra—Shakespeare’s muse of the past, mistress to Caesar and Mark Antony, wielder of the poisonous asp—has been dead for two millenia, but her name and image still resonate in the West. Her story, like any foundation myth, has attracted artists from all periods of time, who have drawn on it in order to raise concerns with the times and the society in which they found themselves living. In this fascinating volume, fully revised and updated, Mary Hamer selects a number of these key occasions from European history and takes the reader on an intellectual, artistic, and aesthetic treasure hunt in order to open up new readings of images and texts related to Cleopatra, many of which had previously appeared self-explanatory—including the surprisingly contentious debate now surrounding her race.