The Ptolemaic dynasty that ruled over Egypt after the death of Alexander the Great, was highly characterized by the incestuous behavior of its member. Multiple generations of Ptolemies married their own siblings or other close family member. Incest was taboo among the Greeks, and despite the Ptolemies descending from the Greco-Macedonian general and king, Ptolemy, they still practiced incest. Many believe this practiced to have started in an effort to appeal to the Egyptian people and to keep the power within the family. With the practice of incest, many genetic disorders can be present in the offspring of incestuous relationships. Some of the health issues that rulers, like Ptolemy VIII Physcon, had can be linked to incest. The Ptolemies were not native Egyptians, however, they began to follow the incestuous types of …show more content…
It is believed that the Ptolemies pursed these marriages because they were symbolic of power. The Ptolemies were characterized by their excessive behavior that was not common in Egyptian, Greek, or Macedonian culture. The Greeks especially, found incest to be punishable by the gods and a loss of self-control (Ager, 2006, p. 166). The first sibling marriage to occur was between paternal half-siblings, Arsinoe II and Ptolemy Keraunos. However, this couple was problematic and not long after Keraunos was killed in battle and Arsinoe conducted the first full-sibling marriage to Ptolemy II. This marriage gave the nickname “Philadelphos”, or “Sibling-lover”, to the couple (Ager, 2006, p. 167). Arsinoe II and Ptolemy II start the trend of sibling marriages with the next generation marrying Ptolemy IV and Arsinoe III, but also Ptolemy V being born from this union (Ager, 2006, p. 167-168). Years of
In 51 B.C., Ptolemy XII died, leaving the throne to 18-year-old Cleopatra and her brother, the 10-year-old Ptolemy XIII. It is likely that the two siblings married, as was customary at the time. Over the next few years Egypt struggled to face down a number of issues, from an unhealthy economy to floods to famine.
Michigan State University. In the decade of the 1950's, Michigan State head coach Clarence “Biggie”
Furthermore, another influence that determined Cleopatra’s rule as queen stems from her lineage. As has been discovered, the Ptolemies, the family Cleopatra belonged to, were not Egyptian. Rather, they were Macedonian Greek. After Alexander the Great’s death in 323 BCE, his empire was divided among his generals (Harold, Anton, Duca, Henefin 28). Ptolemy Soler I claimed Egypt and thus the Ptolemaic Dynasty flourished. However, it has been noted that during the reign of the “first three Ptolemaic Pharaohs” had “Egypt prospered” (Harold, et. al 28). Thereafter, Cleopatra, daughter to Ptolemy XII Auletes and possibly Cleopatra V Tryphaena of Egypt, inherited an Egypt in decline (Harold, et al 28). It would be up to her to restore Egypt.
Cleopatra married another brother, Ptolemy XIV. Law in Egypt prevented women from ruling, alone which is why she married him. Even though she married Ptolemy XIV she was in love with Caesar. Cleopatra spent the next several months with Caesar travelling along the Nile. In 46 BC Cleopatra gave birth to Caesar’s son who was named Caesarian or little Caesar. She emphasized that it was Caesar’s child and Caesar never formally accepted paternity over the child. Even
In Life at the Bottom, Dalrymple is suggesting that the description of the poor is changing and that using poverty and hunger can no longer fully cover all of the lower class. That new characteristics have risen, that many of the lower class have adopted. That those that are violent, those that have agonies and emptiness, and those that have horrid morals are now the way to depict the lower class. Dalrymple also argues that in order to rise out of the underclass that family ties are needed and without it there is hardly any way to do so. Dalrymple says that many of the issues that plague the underclass comes from a bourgeoisie society, that this upper class of liberals are feeding and fueling all of the problems and mentality that are
By winning favor with the native Egyptians and utilizing their pre-existing models of political organization by conducting themselves in the manner of the Pharaoh, stringent economic taxation, and religious/cultural systems of worship through the creation of Greco-Egyptian gods, the Ptolemies were able to implement a stable ascension to power after the death of Alexander the Great. The distance from the Greek homeland and the lack of cities throughout Egypt that tried to emulate Greco-Macedonian ideals allowed native traditions to take hold and strongly influence the policy and future directions of the Egyptian state. Examples of this included the city of Alexandria that was first designed as a bastion of ancient Greek values but succumbed to the presence of an influential native population and an administration that was willing to adapt in order to legitimize its power and allow for national stability in the wake of battles with foreign invaders. If not for internal corruption and infighting among its leaders, Ptolemaic Egypt may have lasted much longer as a kingdom before its eventual annexation by
2. This remaining last dynasty, ruled by a long line Ptolemies, stood against the growing Roman Empire (Knight and McConnell 1-2). C. Cleopatra’s paternal side came from a long line of rulers known as Ptolemies, in similar power of that of a Pharaoh. 1. Her father was a “particularly unpopular” ruler and was even exiled from Egypt for a period of time.
Pharaohs for centuries had put themselves on a pedestal, those in the Ptolemaic Dynasty rarely ever connected with their subjects, but Cleopatra defied this ideology. The Ptolemies were descendants of a general in Alexander the Great’s military and therefore were aligned with Greek and Macedonian traditions. Previously, Greek rulers and Egyptian subjects caused great division among the
In doing this, Alexander had cemented his place within the royal family of the Achaemenid Empire. Alexander then gave Stateira’s younger sister Drypetis, to his close companion, Hephaestion, as he wanted their children to be legitimate
The first time that Cleopatra shows exceptional amounts of intelligence and control is when her father, Ptolemy Auletes, died when Cleopatra was eighteen, leaving herself and her younger brother, Ptolemy XIII as co-rulers of Egypt. From the start, Cleopatra was forced to act efficiently, as a harsh famine was plaguing Egypt, the Roman Empire was already rising beyond control, and her desperation to become the dominant leader of Egypt was staunched due to laws of a mandatory inter-familial consort, leaving her to compete her brother for the power over their country. With all of these problems, Cleopatra resorted to tactics that would set her apart from her lazy and generally unimpressive father and her brother; she learnt how to speak Egyptian, unlike many of her other family members, giving her the opportunity to
Due to ritual customs, she married her brother and then decided she wanted sole power. Cleopatra’s first years were marked as failures due to their economic failure, famine, deficient floods,
Queen Cleopatra VII was a powerful, intelligent, and passionate woman born from royal blood of the Ptolemaic Dynasty. As a successor of Hellenistic people and Alexander the Great she was not of an Egyptian blood but born in Alexandria and speaking Egyptian language. When her father Ptolemy Auletes died, Cleopatra was in the age of eighteen. She had three sisters Cleopatra VI, Berenice IV, Arsinoe IV two of them were older than her and one younger, and two younger brothers named Ptolemy XIII and Ptolemy XIV too. Cleopatra VII and her brother Ptolemy XIII inherited the kingdom of their father as it was written his will. Because of the law in Egypt of that time Cleopatra was unable to rule by her own without the presence of a male coruler, a brother or son. As a result she ruled together with her brother who she get married to although he was only twelve years old.
After Ptolemy XIII’s death, Caesar restored Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIV, her youngest brother, as rulers of Egypt. In 47 B.C., Cleopatra gave birth to a child that was believed to be Caesar’s. The child was Ptolemy XV Philopator Philometor Caesar, but was known to the Egyptian people as Caesarion, which means “Little Caesar.” In 46 to 45 B.C. Cleopatra, Ptolemy XIV, and Caesarion traveled to Rome to be with Caesar. He was murdered soon after in March of 44 B.C. They returned to Egypt where Ptolemy XIV died soon after their return. (“Cleopatra VII’s Childhood…”) Cleopatra feared for their lives because of the Caesarion posed to Octavian. (“Cleopatra: The Woman…”)
Egyptian women were fortunate in that they were equal to men as far as the law was concerned. They could own property, borrow money, initiate divorce, and many other things unheard of in the Greek civilization. The Egyptian royal line was matriarchal, meaning that royalty was passed down from mother to son. The Greeks, in comparison, were patriarchal, meaning control was passed from father to son. It was also necessary for a man to marry a woman of royalty in order to become a Pharaoh. Because of this, it was common for brothers to marry sisters. Sometimes, women were even known to become a Pharaoh. There are at least four documented female Pharaohs with the most notable being Hatshepsut (1479-1458 B.C.) (McKay 2009). Hatshepsut, though a very powerful ruler, was often times depicted in men’s clothing and with a false beard (McKay 2009). This shows that even though women were much more important in Egyptian society, there was still a stigma around women leaders.
Aforementioned, it’s unclear what cultural or identified behavioral influences contributed to the Yahoo malvertising incident as the perpetrators weren’t publically identified. Culturally, crime rates are closely linked to the lack of financial opportunities. (Kshetri, 2010). In general, there are psychological and sociological drivers of cybercrime. Malvertising is a prevalent anonymous threat and to understand a person’s intention and motivation one must first analyze their psychological background and social environment. The attackers, also known as unethical or black hat hackers, are thrill seekers who break into systems to satisfy their inquisitiveness, they’re intrigued by the challenge of knowing they “can” infiltrate a system thereupon emerging their technical skills. (Fötinger & Ziegler, 2004). Sometimes, when they meet their challenge it intensifies into addiction where other factors come into play such as financial gain.