Woman at banquet in antiquity: Cleopatra VII

Abstract

In the Life of Antony, Plutarch reports on the sumptuous banquet offered by Cleopatra VII, the last Hellenistic queen and ruler of Egypt, to Mark Antony, who reciprocates, on the occasion of their meeting in Tarsus; a fact also described, with some differences, by Sokrates of Rhodes. From these sources, the article aims to reflect on women at banquets in antiquity by comparing past and present, from Homer to the end of the Hellenistic age or the beginning of the Augustan age, as well as the Mediterranean East and West, the Greek world and the Etruscan and Roman worlds. Returning to Cleopatra, it examines other banquets organised by the queen together with Antony in relation to the association of the ‘Inimitable Livers’ founded by the two: not only are events characterized by pleasures and luxury but they present also others different goals. Finally, the image of Cleopatra drinking wine at a banquet gives the opportunity to analyse the relationship between wine and woman in Antiquity, again following a comparative approach.