Cleopatra's skin colour is a frivolous modern fascination. It eclipses her political prowess
We project onto Cleopatra our own cultural preconceptions about female influence, and assume she must have been physically attractive.
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We project onto Cleopatra our own cultural preconceptions about female influence, and assume she must have been physically attractive.
Cleopatra, queen of Egypt in the years 51-30 BC, is back in the news thanks to a controversial docudrama series on Netflix called Queen Cleopatra. Much debate has raged about her ethnicity.
The ethnicity outcry says more about today’s preoccupations with race than ancient Egypt’s.
The “docudrama” Queen Cleopatra, which purports to be a historically accurate account of the life and reign of the ruler of the Ptolemaic kingdom of Egypt in the first century BC, will be released on Netflix on May 10. The series, produced by Jada Pinkett Smith, the wife of American actor Will Smith, has already attracted much controversy for the decision to cast the black