Description :
For more than two millennia, Cleopatra has been constantly reinterpreted, reinvented and even exploited. A Hellenistic queen, a leading political figure and then an object of Western fascination, she has become one of the most ubiquitous historical figures in contemporary cultural productions. This book offers a unique analysis of the modern reception of Cleopatra, at the crossroads of history, popular culture, art and marketing analysis. Drawing on a vast database compiling thousands of references to Cleopatra in the field of global creativity ? books, songs, films, advertisements, pictorial works, consumer products, etc. ? Claire Mercier and François de Callataÿ examine the mechanisms that govern the construction, dissemination and resilience of a historical myth on a global scale.