Did Cleopatra really kill herself?

I wuth there.

There wuth no athathin, the athp wuth held by Cleo's own hand unto her breaththt, and the fangth tranthmitted the athp's poithon with a minimum of futh.

It wuth all over quickly.

There wuth no conthpirathy, it wuth all ath Thshthakeththpeare wrote it later. There never ith a conthpirathy, it ith alwayth ath the town crierth report it.

An Outrage!

A dwarf was present at Cleopatra's death and I was not informed? Heads will roll.

I'm on the phone with Conspiracy Central now, and this promises to be a very unpleasant conversation.

Originally posted by ShadowXIX
Its highly unlikely that she killed herself with a asp. Because that species does not live in Egypt and never has. There is good reason for Cleopatra’s snake being called an asp: the name asp used to be a general term for any kind of venomous snake, in much the same way that the word serpent is used to describe any snake.

Also its not likely anybody would use that snake for suicide as their bites are not often fatal; moreover, the effects are painful and messy. On the other hand, the biting cobra injects venom that interferes with the action of nerves and muscles. Death is quick and relatively painless. Scientists and scholars believe the snake that caused the death of Cleopatra was actually the Egyptian cobra, Naja haje.


www.fascinatingearth.com...'s%20Asp.htm

You're missing the point of using a snake. They were sacred for egyptians and they believed that a death by a snake bite will immortalize them.

Anyone have more detailed info on this snake believe?

Originally posted by MaskedAvatar
I wuth there.

There wuth no athathin, the athp wuth held by Cleo's own hand unto her breaththt, and the fangth tranthmitted the athp's poithon with a minimum of futh.

It wuth all over quickly.

There wuth no conthpirathy, it wuth all ath Thshthakeththpeare wrote it later. There never ith a conthpirathy, it ith alwayth ath the town crierth report it.

Now you are just making up stories. I have it on good authority that nonatesticulus the eunuch, was the only witness. Perhaps there is more to this story than we know.

Originally posted by PsykoOps


You're missing the point of using a snake. They were sacred for egyptians and they believed that a death by a snake bite will immortalize them.

Anyone have more detailed info on this snake believe?

Im not saying anything about the point or meaning of using a snake. Just talking about when people talk about her using a asp its wrong, It was a Cobra.

For thousands of years it was believed that Cleopatra committed suicide by letting an asp bite her


ASP

Egytian cobra

These are the snakes that get mixed up and people often still confuse them when it comes to Cleopatra.

Statues, paintings, and various other forms of Egyptian art often show royalty wearing headdresses or amulets depicting the cobra. They may have even worshiped this snake. It has always been popular with Egyptians; it was both feared and respected.

In ancient Egypt the cobra was often used as a instrument of mercy for condemned political prisoners. Since its poison was known to be quick-acting and almost painless, it was at times offered as an alternative to a more painful and dishonorable way of dying. On record are many cases of Egyptian noblemen and royalty who deliberately went to their reward via the cobra route. As scholars argue, why should Cleopatra have been any different? A bite from the Egyptian cobra brought a rapid death far more merciful than she could expect from the advancing Roman conquerors. And most important, at least to her, suicide by cobra bite was an honorable death. It is really quite doubtful that Cleopatra ever heard of an asp!




[edit on 20-2-2005 by ShadowXIX]

I also have watched the suicide/murder theory on the discovery channel. although they werent sure exactly which one it was. they couldnt even proove exactly what they had said on the show, because they had no evidence. They figured she had the snake snuck into her her room, and she and her 2 maidish type girls that were in there had all let the snake bite them, but even that story wasnt verry probable.

I saw the show, and frankly had some problems with it.

The detective/examiner makes some assumptions about how the ancients behaved that are not necessarily true. For instance, in the Roman culture, suicide WAS an honorable and acceptable method of dealing with a situation. While the Ptolomies were Greek rather than Roman, I think the cultural attitudes there need to be examined a bit further.

What bothered me most was the "evidence" about the "man who found her dead and the servant dying." The claim is that "he ran (I've forgotten where) and came right back" and this trip was no more than 15 minutes.

My problem with this is that this particular account is written 200 years or so AFTER the death of Cleopatra. It's hardly an eyewitness account and it certainly isn't an account of someone who talked to the eyewitness. At best it's 3rd or 4th hand. At worst, it's a romantic tale told by a bard.

There's also conflicting stories of how she met her death.

So, to assign blame on such weak evidence is just bad detective work. Cleopatra WAS a historical figure and there's a lot of records from her and about her. Her death is a popular and romantic legend. But to assign a culprit and a method based on data that is 1800 years in our past and was only written down a hundred years and more after she died and then treat it as fact... no.

That's just bad cinema.

With all due respect Byrd, isn't that what the school books do with the story as it is anyways? If I'm not mistaken, the Discovery show was based on the same stories as every other interpretation, just tried to look at it from a different perspective. It's the same bard song on both sides of the asp, just different lighting.

It is likely that Cleopatra had committed suicide or was killed by the Romans since nothing about her exist after 30 B.C. I sincerely hope that Cleopatra met an honorable death since her story was tragic and yet touching. She used love to keep her country from being absorbed in the clutches of the Romans. Why live to be sacrificed like an animal as a form of unhumanly entertainment? Life is about living honorably. Though suicide is considered a sin in most religious pretexts, I believe Cleopatra choose to die by her own hand rather than by the Romans because she would have been spared of a painful death, if at all that would have been her fate if she had allowed herself to grace in Octavian's triumph parade. Though prisoners-of-war were repeatedly executed after being paraded, sometimes the victor would have mercy for their victims, especially female victims.

It is likely that Cleopatra had committed suicide or was killed by the Romans since nothing about her exist after 30 B.C. I sincerely hope that Cleopatra met an honorable death since her story was tragic and yet touching. She used love to keep her country from being absorbed in the clutches of the Romans. Why live to be sacrificed like an animal as a form of unhumanly entertainment? Life is about living honorably. Though suicide is considered a sin in most religious pretexts, I believe Cleopatra choose to die by her own hand rather than by the Romans because she would have been spared of a painful death, if at all that would have been her fate if she had allowed herself to grace in Octavian's triumph parade. Though prisoners-of-war were repeatedly executed after being paraded, sometimes the victor would have mercy for their victims, especially female victims.