The Whitewashing of Cleopatra

HUMA 315 – Week 4  

I try to remind myself that our textbook is only regurgitating the information that has been told and retold in hopes that that will make some believe it, some of the information is quite accurate but some makes you want to dig even deeper for the truth. 

My group this week was tasked with deciding if we agreed on whether Hollywood has "whitewashed" all the history out of who Cleopatra was and how she lived.  We learned that she in  fact was Macedonia Greek on her mothers side we learned nothing of her father.  Some in our group had no idea that she was the Queen of Egypt in fact she was a master strategist in ensuring the safety and security of Egypt and her relationships with Julius Caesar and Marc Antony were just to ensure her children would be safe.   

Each week I am surprised at how little some of my classmates know of vital historical events about ancient cultures, civil rights actions or even how some are determining how many jails and prisons to build based on the number of male children(black) are in public schools.  I guess having n an inquisitive mind has been a good thing because whenever I came across  subject that I was interested in wasn't covered in school I went to the library or asked every adult I knew until I got the answer I was looking for the majority of today's generation just doesn't know and doesn't care to know what happened in Ancient Egypt or anywhere else other than what's happening in their world.

Etymology of the name

The name Cleopatra is derived from the Greek name Κλεοπάτρα (Kleopatra) which meant "she who comes from glorious father" or "glory of the father" in the feminine form, derived from κλέος (kleos) "glory" combined with πατήρ (pater) "father" (the masculine form would be written either as Kleopatros (Κλεόπατρος), or Patroklos (Πάτροκλος))