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Megan
Senske
Cleopatra
Sept. 12, 2002
Famous Queens
1. Olympias
a. Came to the throne
I. Phillip II
II. Children
b. Left in Charge
c. Kept respect
I. Humor
II. Temper
III. Genius/Insane
IV. Virtuous
d. Control over Children
I. Alexander - letters
II. Cleopatra - marriages and her children
2. Arsinoe II
a. History
I. Marriages
- Lysimachus
- Ceraunus
b. Ptolemy's house
I. Marriage
II. Power
c. Power over Ptolemy
I. Reasons she had power
d. Drives
I. Power
II. Her son
3. Cleopatra III
a. Came to throne
I. Parents
II. Husband
b. Family Crisis
I. Children
II. Wars
c. Facts
Summary:
Other Queens
Meris Hulcher
Cleopatra VII was not the first Hellenistic queen to come into
power. In fact, she came from a long line of powerful queens. The
first of these queens was Olympias, Phillip II’s wife. She
not only desired power, but she also found ways to get the power
she craved. When Phillip went campaigning, she was the one left
in charge. Not only that, but she was also respected by people.
She maintained a sense of humor towards Phillip’s mistresses
and at the same time, stayed faithful to him. She had two children
with Phillip, and some people say that she planned Phillip’s
murder to insure that her children would be the ones to come into
power. After Phillip’s death, Olympias tried to get power from
her son, Alexander, but he denied it to her, so she went to her
daughter, Cleopatra, and eventually became regent of Epirus.
Another powerful queen was Arsinoe II. Her first marriage was to
Lysimachus, but he was murdered. She then married Ceraunus, who
killed her two younger children before being killed himself. She
then married Ptolemy II, her brother. She was a very domineering
woman and because of this, she had a lot of power over Ptolemy.
In fact, she was the first woman to have a policy made by her mentioned
in a public document. She was only married to Ptolemy for five years
before she died, but in that time span, she had all other heirs
to the throne killed so that her son, Ptolemaeus, would be the next
in power.
Cleopatra III was perhaps the most domineering of all the Hellenistic
queens. She married Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II and had five children
with him. When her husband died, he left his power to his son, Ptolemy
IX Soter II. Cleopatra however, wanted to rule, so she denied him
power. When he married Cleopatra IV, Cleopatra III was so angry
that she made him get a divorce. This made Cleopatra IV mad, so
she created an army with the help of her brother, Ptolemy X Alexander
I. Eventually Cleopatra III was assassinated by Ptolemy X Alexander
I.