Few women of antiquity have gripped the public imagination as Cleopatra has. For centuries, she has inspired playwrights, poets, artists and film-makers, with the result that she and Antony are arguably history's most famous lovers. However, I have not yet encountered a study which discusses, in one work, the multiple constructions of Cleopatra across the range of genres in which she has been represented. Certainly, many books and articles are devoted to revealing how Cleopatra has been constructed in one or other specific genre, but it seems as though no attempts have been made to portray, in juxtaposition to one another, the many faces of Cleopatra. This dissertation seeks to do just that. Although I could not possibly include a discussion ofevery genre in which Cleopatra has been constructed, I have chosen six areas for study: ancient Greek biography (using Plutarch's Life ofAntony); the poetry of the Augustan poets: Vergil (the Aeneid), Horace (Ode 1.37) and Propertius (Elegies 3.11); Shakespearean tragedy (Antony and Cleopatra); art (numismatics and ancient sculpture); film (Joseph Mankiewicz's Cleopatra), and, briefly, Africanist historiography. I have chosen these areas because each offers such diverse constructions of Cleopatra that one begins to appreciate how historiography, propaganda and representation have contributed to the shaping ofthe Cleopatra myth, coloured by the ideology ofthe age in which she has been interpreted afresh. Current Africanist appropriations ofCleopatra suggest that historiography is never neutral: race and gender often intersect to create 'historical' identities. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2003.

The motif of the uncovered female breast is ubiquitous in art of all ages and cultures. Modern analysis of breast imagery tends to be biased by the sexual significance that breasts have now. However in Italian renaissance art the exposed breast appears in many different manifestations. The purpose of this thesis is to explore several specific types of breast iconography. The first chapter will examine images of Maria lactans, and consider the religious, cultural and psychological meaning held within the image and the social changes which were to lead to its loss of popularity. Chapter Two will consider the appearance of secular images of breastfeeding, particularly in the city-states of north Italy in the early Renaissance, and examine possible sociological reasons for the political use of the depiction of breast feeding. Other associated breast iconography will also be considered. Chapter Three will focus on images of the tortured breast, particularly depictions of St. Agatha suffering the removal of her breasts during martyrdom. Both the sacred and sado-sexual elements of such images will be examined. The fourth chapter will look at images of Lucretia. It will be examined why in so many cases artists chose to depict her with her breasts exposed (in contradiction to ancient sources) and with the dagger actually pointing at or embedded in her breast. It will be argued that the breast was used in art as external symbol of the female heart. The final chapter of the thesis will focus on paintings Cleopatra. Again, there is an even more marked contradiction to ancient sources when Cleopatra is depicted dying by a snakebite to the breast. A full-circle will be achieved in the contrast of paintings of Mary suckling Christ with images of Cleopatra apparently breastfeeding a snake.

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This dissertation aims to focus on the way in which Marc Antony has been portrayed in Antiquity by a careful and critical study of what the ancient (mainly literary) sources have to reveal about this historical personage. A number of primary sources present a very negative view of Antony under the influence of various political persuasions, and this will be compared and contrasted with later ancient views. The study will pursue this under key themes such as the personality of Antony, his military and political career as well as the role that he played in the East. Modern scholarly interpretations of Antony’s character and actions will also be brought into the discussion, so that an objective evaluation of the contribution which Antony has made to the history of the Roman Republic, insofar as objectivity is possible, may be arrived at. / Language Services / M.A. (with specialisation in Ancient Languages and Cultures)

This dissertation aims to focus on the way in which Marc Antony has been portrayed in Antiquity by a careful and critical study of what the ancient (mainly literary) sources have to reveal about this historical personage. A number of primary sources present a very negative view of Antony under the influence of various political persuasions, and this will be compared and contrasted with later ancient views. The study will pursue this under key themes such as the personality of Antony, his military and political career as well as the role that he played in the East. Modern scholarly interpretations of Antony’s character and actions will also be brought into the discussion, so that an objective evaluation of the contribution which Antony has made to the history of the Roman Republic, insofar as objectivity is possible, may be arrived at. / Language Services / M.A. (with specialisation in Ancient Languages and Cultures)