Francine Prose

Dismissing Historical Misogyny & Hollywood Luridness
Review of the Yale University Press paperback (October 17, 2023) of the original Yale University Press hardcover (November 1, 2022).

She continues to fascinate us to this day. The final ruler of Egypt before its annexation to the Roman Empire is known to us as Cleopatra (c70 BCE - 30 BCE), but was actually Cleopatra VII of the Ptolemic Dynasty. She was a descendant of Ptolemy I (367 BCE to 282 BCE), one of Alexander the Great's Greek Macedonian generals who ruled Egypt as one of the several successor kings who carved up their conquered empire after the death of their leader.

Because of some gaps in the knowledge of her parental lineage, there is speculation that she may have been of mixed race. This has resulted in recent controversies such as the reaction to the Netflix documentary (2023) and the possible casting of the mixed race actor Zendaya in a rumoured future feature film.

Francine Prose gives a "feminist reinterpretation" of both the ancient historical accounts and the later Hollywood film depictions. All of these emphasize her as a diabolical temptress and seducer who led "noble" Romans such as Julius Caesar and Marc Antony astray. Those early accounts were written by Roman historians of course, often well after the actual events. These accounts often ignore the fact that she was the ruler of Egypt and sought to protect her children and the independence of Egypt for the future. She unfortunately allied herself with the losing forces who were either assassinated such as Caesar or committed suicide such as Antony. Cleopatra herself chose to commit suicide rather than be paraded through the streets of Rome by Octavian (later known as Emperor Augustus).

Sidenote: A lot of this reminded me of the blackening of the reputation of the last Plantagenet-Yorkist King Richard III in the later Tudor accounts such as Shakespeare's play. Recent history has sought to restore that reputation. Mystery fans should read Josephine Tey's The Daughter of Time (1951) for a fictional reexamination of the murder of the princes in the Tower of London.

Back to Cleopatra. In any case, Prose makes an interesting argument for reading those early accounts with a grain of salt and remembering who they were written by and for whom. Hollywood of course takes the most extreme stories and builds on them even further. So we have bizarre stories handed down such as Cleopatra being presented to Caesar after being rolled up in a rug and later committing suicide with the aid of an asp being smuggled in a basket of figs.

See photograph at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3e/Kleopatra-VII.-Altes-M...
Bust of Cleopatra VII in the Altes Museum Berlin. Image sourced from Wikipedia where it is described as a Roman sculpture of Cleopatra wearing a royal diadem, mid-1st century BC (around the time of her visits to Rome in 46–44 BC). For an interesting video on What Did Cleopatra Look Like? based on extrapolating from this bust, see Trivia below.

See graphic at https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Kleopatra-Cesarion-god...
Cleopatra introduces her son Caesarion to the Egyptian falcon-headed god of war Montu. Image sourced from Wikimedia Commons.

I enjoyed this reinterpretation of the life of Cleopatra and look forward to reading more of the Ancient Lives series from Yale University Press. I had previously read Sarah Ruden's Vergil, The Poet's Life (2023).

Other Reviews
Francine Prose dispels the sexualized mythology surrounding a powerful ruler by Allison Arieff, Datebook SF Chronicle, October 31, 2022.

Trivia and Links
See a video of What Did Cleopatra Look Like? at the Royalty Now YouTube channel here.

Read an excerpt from the book at The Legend of Cleopatra at Yale University Press.

Cleopatra: Her History, Her Myth is part of Yale University Press's Ancient Lives series which currently includes: Marcus Aurelius: The Stoic Emperor (expected publication February 2024), Vergil: The Poet's Life (2023), Ramesses the Great: Egypt's King of Kings (2023), Julian: Rome’s Last Pagan Emperor (2023), Crassus: The First Tycoon (2022), and Demetrius: Sacker of Cities (2022).… (mere)

A terrifically well-written book about the perils of selling one's soul for a job. The young protagonist takes on a challenging position editing the slush pile at a mysterious publishing house. Soon enough he finds himself with a manuscript about the two most famous communists, the Rosenbergs, which turns Ethel Rosenberg into the titular Vixen. He resists, but is told the book needs to be released to save the publishing house from bankruptcy, and reluctantly takes on the project. He's not doing it to save the company, though - he wants his job.
Mysteries abound and I found it hard to put the book down, but I was relieved when it came to the end. For one thing, the main character is a hopelessly self-centred neurotic. The whining about everything and self-pity may have been supposed to be funny, but much as in Woody Allen's neurotic male characters, it simply became irritating. And hey, it's another take on how men want to have sex with anything that's female, no matter how inappropriate it might be, or how ridiculous it all seems.
Just once I'd like to see a story where the male and female characters can be colleagues without feeling the need to leap into a nearby bush. Simon Putnam, in particular, seems like such a flaccid character all the lust seems impossible. Who would want to have sex with him, anyway? He's a total drip.
This aside, the plot spins out of control, even in Francine Prose's expert hands. She writes beautifully, and that's why I picked up the book in the first place, bonded endlessly as I am to her other book about "Reading like a Writer", and her columns for the NYRB. Unfortunately, the last few chapters feel tacked on, as if in response to an editor saying, "But what happened to...?" I'm all for a good epilogue but these several short chapters added nothing, really, and just took away from the actual end of the story.
So, sadly disappointed.
… (mere)

As someone that is just getting into absorbing books, and having a tough time with my ADHD, this book helped bring to light things I hadn't learned before (before you @ me, I didn't go to college, so I'm learning on my own), and to really focus on what is being told, and in turn this book has helped me really think about authorial intent, and help me in my own writing.

I also am a musician, and I know plenty of musicians that pay attention to the same sort of steps--lines, riffs, vox, drum beat--all of which is inspired by previous songs that I pay attention to the parts of them.

This book has helped me refresh my love for literature, and I know, given the other reviews, that there are other points that I'll have to learn as well.… (mere)