Category Social Sciences

              Who has not heard of Cleopatra, the beautiful ruler of Ancient Egypt? She is one of the greatest political and romantic figures in history. She called herself the daughter of the Egyptian Sun God Ra, and became the ruler of Egypt along with her younger brother in 51 BC, at a time when Egypt was facing great hardship. The Romans were seizing more and more Egyptian territories, and there was wide-spread famine throughout the land. Cleopatra herself had many enemies who succeeded in driving her out of the country. They then seized power in the name of her younger brother, who was also the ruler.

               However, Cleopatra was not to be dismissed so lightly. She sought the help of Rome’s greatest general, Julius Caesar, and he helped her to get back her throne. After Caesar’s death, one of his loyal generals, Mark Antony became her husband. Mark Antony divorced his Roman wife to marry Cleopatra, and this greatly angered the Romans. Julius Caesar’s nephew, Octavius Caesar, declared war on Egypt, and defeated Mark Antony, who committed suicide.

             Cleopatra too chose to die, rather than be taken a prisoner of Rome. She had a basket of figs, in which a snake was concealed, smuggled into her room. She died of snakebite, but became immortal for the beauty, charm, and charisma that had captured the hearts of two of the most powerful men in the world at that time.

Hypatia was the daughter of a teacher of mathematics, who lived in Alexandria in Ancient Egypt. She studied under her father, and other great scholars of the time, including Plutarch. Hypatia herself grew up to become a renowned scholar and teacher, who wrote on mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy.

Hypatia has many achievements to her credit. She wrote about the movements of the planets, and the numbers theory. She also invented the plane astrolabe, the graduated brass hydrometer and the hydroscope, along with one of her students and colleagues. Besides being a teacher and inventor, Hypatia was a powerful political force in the city.

Hypatia was bold and fearless. She scorned women’s clothing, and dressed like a scholar. She moved about freely like men did, and drove her own chariot. She had many enemies who distrusted her teachings. These enemies finally led an attack against her, and Hypatia was killed by a violent mob. Yet her memory lives on, and though her works were destroyed, we know of her writings through the works of other great writers.

            Aspasia will go down in history as one of the first truly liberated women, not just in Ancient Greece, but in the world. She was born into a wealthy family around 400 BC, in the lonian city of Miletus, which is a part of modern Turkey. As a child, Aspasia received an excellent education, unlike most girls of that era.

            Aspasia’s family moved to Athens and settled there. Since she was not Athenian by birth, Aspasia was free of the legal restraints that bound other Athenian women. She became the wife of a famous Athenian named Pericles, and had a son who was also called Pericles.

            Aspasia gained fame, as the leader of a highly independent group of women, who were beautiful, educated, accomplished entertainers. They even paid taxes like men did! Aspasia herself influenced not only her husband and her son, but also the course of Athenian politics. In fact, it is believed that she was responsible for a couple of wars like the Athenian attack on Samos, and the Archimedean War. So great was her power and influence that she has found mentioned in the works of the great writers of the time like Plato, Aristophanes, and Xenophon.