Why do people think Cleopatra was beautiful?

FireWire · #1 (**permalink**) Feb 16, 07

I was just looking on Wikipedia for a project I'm working on and saw some more accurate depictions of her than the ones in movies and posters:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleopatra

And the thought came - why is it so? Seems like some people started fantasizing about her after she died an unpredicted death and created this whole romantic image that we now see in movies...

Your thoughts?

tiedye · #2 (**permalink**) Feb 16, 07

Because the concept of beauty has drastically changed since ancient Egypt.

Phrenetic · #3 (**permalink**) Feb 16, 07

even men wore makeup in that day. i forget what it was made of but it was kinda gross

r a m a z e · #4 (**permalink**) Feb 16, 07

lol at those pictures This looks like another case of the media trying to dictating how Egyptians looked and that Egyptians weren't really black.

also it's all speculation and beauty is relative to each individual

**sNyx** · #5 (**permalink**) Feb 16, 07

first hit it..

Disco_Whore · #6 (**permalink**) Feb 16, 07

Because she's a woman.

Women in powerful positions either have to throw away all feminity to be 'one of the boys' or be viewed as sex objects.

decypher · #7 (**permalink**) Feb 16, 07

I think it's pretty self-explanatory that modern media has to have a pretty face. Cleopatra's campaign to immortalize this image goes all the way back to the time she lived. Political turmoil and vying against her brother for the thrown, her brother's blunder against Caesar and her moving in on Caesar brought great change.

thebobman · #8 (**permalink**) Feb 16, 07

Quote:

Originally Posted by Disco_Whore

Because she's a woman.

Women in powerful positions either have to throw away all feminity to be 'one of the boys' or be viewed as sex objects.

Case in point - Margret Thatcher or Kim Campbell or Hillary Clinton, shall I go on?

Ms.Tarantula · #9 (**permalink**) Feb 17, 07

She was powerful and intelligent. What's not attractive about that?

Media today knows no other way to portray how people felt about her... so they cast physically beautiful woemen to get the same kind of attention Cleo used to have..

It's sick how things have changed.

bungoshlung · #10 (**permalink**) Feb 17, 07

cause hollywood wants good looking women in their movies to get people to watch it?