Cleopatra Quotes
Almost nothing Cleopatra wrote survives, so her words reach us through Plutarch, Livy and one remarkable papyrus. Many lines quoted as hers are really from Shakespeare's play Antony and Cleopatra.
4 real Cleopatra quotes, with sources
“I will not be triumphed over.”Cleopatra — Livy, quoted by Porphyrio in his commentary on Horace, Odes 1.37 (Greek: ou thriambeusomai)
“Imperator, hand over thy fishing-rod to the fishermen of Pharos and Canopus; thy sport is the hunting of cities, realms, and continents.”Cleopatra — Plutarch, Life of Antony 29 (tr. Perrin)
“Out of all my innumerable ills not one is so great and dreadful as this short time that I have lived apart from thee.”Cleopatra — Plutarch, Life of Antony 84 (at Antony's tomb, tr. Perrin)
“Make it happen.”Cleopatra — Greek “ginesthoi”, written on a royal decree of 33 BC (P. Bingen 45), possibly in Cleopatra's own hand
Famous quotes Cleopatra never said
“All strange and terrible events are welcome, but comforts we despise.”Spoken by Cleopatra in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra (c. 1607), Act 4, a play written 1,600 years after her death.
“Be it known that we, the greatest, are misthought.”Also from Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra (Act 5, Scene 2), not the historical queen.
Who was Cleopatra?
The last active ruler of Ptolemaic Egypt, Cleopatra spoke many languages and played Rome's leaders against each other to protect her kingdom. Her alliances with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony made her one of the most powerful, and most mythologised, women in history. Read more on Wikipedia.
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What is Cleopatra's most famous quote?
One of the best known is “I will not be triumphed over.” (Livy, quoted by Porphyrio in his commentary on Horace, Odes 1.37 (Greek: ou thriambeusomai))
Did Cleopatra really say “All strange and terrible events are welcome, but comforts we despise.”?
No. Spoken by Cleopatra in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra (c. 1607), Act 4, a play written 1,600 years after her death.
Did Cleopatra really say “Be it known that we, the greatest, are misthought.”?
No. Also from Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra (Act 5, Scene 2), not the historical queen.
Where do these Cleopatra quotes come from?
Almost nothing Cleopatra wrote survives, so her words reach us through Plutarch, Livy and one remarkable papyrus. Many lines quoted as hers are really from Shakespeare's play Antony and Cleopatra.
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