"The kind of temptress men sell their soul for". It is exactly this notion of Cleopatra which gets short shrift in Lucy Hughes-Hallett's exemplary reappraisal. Hughes-Hallett shows how Cleopatra's image was constantly amended by prevailing female fashions, political morality and sexual neuroses. The book's theme, in effect, is the way in which the real Cleopatra's story has been pushed aside in favour of the other, often pornographic representations . . . The author of this book brings an equally trenchant intelligence to bear on the subject, and in doing so throws a searching light on two thousand years of male erotic fantasy.
A richly entertaining and thought-provoking account of the way in which succeeding generations have portrayed Cleopatra as virtuous suicide, inefficient housewife, exuberant lover, professional courtesan, scheming manipulator, femme fatale and incarnation of Isis and bimbo.
