--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Cleopatra stood at one of the most…" description: "\"Cleopatra stood at one of the most dangerous intersections in history; that of women and power. Clever women, Euripides had warned hundreds of years ea..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/464/stacy-schiff-7881_cleopatra_cleopatra-stood-at-one-of-the-most-dange_208257.png" --- # Cleopatra stood at one of the most dangerous intersections… ![“Cleopatra stood at one of the most dangerous intersections in history; that of women and power. Clever women, Euripides had warned hundreds of years earlier, were dangerous.” quote by Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/464/stacy-schiff-7881_cleopatra_cleopatra-stood-at-one-of-the-most-dange_208257.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/464/stacy-schiff-7881_cleopatra_cleopatra-stood-at-one-of-the-most-dange_208257.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/464/stacy-schiff-7881_cleopatra_cleopatra-stood-at-one-of-the-most-dange_208257.png) > “Cleopatra stood at one of the most dangerous intersections in history; that of women and power. Clever women, Euripides had warned hundreds of years earlier, were dangerous.” [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Cleopatra’s power illustrates how women who wield influence are often portrayed as threats, reflecting societal fear of female authority. **In simple terms:** Women in power are seen as dangerous. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge gendered stereotypes. Themes gender power history stereotypes Mood critical reflective Type historical analytical When to use this quote - leadership training - gender equity initiatives - media analysis - political campaigns Key Concepts feminist theory political symbolism Questions to Reflect On - How does labeling powerful women as dangerous affect their legacy? - What can be done to reframe narratives about women in power? A Different Perspective The narrative can overlook Cleopatra’s agency and achievements beyond the “danger” label. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Clever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clever/) [Clever woman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clever-woman/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Intersections](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intersections/) ## Related quotes > [What we know about Cleopatra's looks is based purely on her coin portraits. Engraving was imperfect, and that when you are a ruler and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/what-we-know-about-cleopatra-s-looks-is-based-purely-on-her-coin/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [“The personal inevitably trumps the political, and the erotic trumps all: We will remember that Cleopatra slept with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/the-personal-inevitably-trumps-the-political-and-the-erotic-trumps/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [Here you have an incredibly ambitious, accomplished woman who comes up against some of the same problems that women in power come up against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/here-you-have-an-incredibly-ambitious-accomplished-woman-who-comes-up/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [In 'Plutarch,' her voice begins to come out; there are actual 2,000-year-old quotes from Cleopatra, and they are sly and saucy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/in-plutarch-her-voice-begins-to-come-out-there-are-actual-2-000-year/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [ “\[Cleopatra's\] power has been made to derive from her sexuality, for obvious reason; as one of Caesar's murderers had noted, 'How much more attention… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/cleopatra-s-power-has-been-made-to-derive-from-her-sexuality-for/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [“While it is unclear who had done so, someone had produced a heroine. Cleopatra's was an honorable death, a dignified death, an exemplary death.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/while-it-is-unclear-who-had-done-so-someone-had-produced-a-heroine/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [By the time Florence Nightingale got her neurotic hands on Cleopatra, she had been mangled beyond recognition by both history and literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/by-the-time-florence-nightingale-got-her-neurotic-hands-on-cleopatra/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [I once interviewed David Herbert Donald, the Lincoln historian, and we talked about how one deals with the secondary sources and the previous biographies.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/i-once-interviewed-david-herbert-donald-the-lincoln-historian-and-we/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [“Plutarch clearly notes that her beauty “was not in itself so remarkable that none could be compared with her, or that no one could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/plutarch-clearly-notes-that-her-beauty-was-not-in-itself-so/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [You have to scuba dive in the Alexandrian harbor if you want to see what remains of the lighthouse of Cleopatra's day, and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/you-have-to-scuba-dive-in-the-alexandrian-harbor-if-you-want-to-see/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [The interesting thing about Cleopatra is that she is such a shape-shifter. I mean through history we've all molded her to our times and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/the-interesting-thing-about-cleopatra-is-that-she-is-such-a-shape/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [“History existed to be retold, with more panache but not necessarily greater accuracy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/history-existed-to-be-retold-with-more-panache-but-not-necessarily/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [“Against a powerful enchantress there is no contest. Against a woman who ensnares a man in the coils of her serpentine intelligence - in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/against-a-powerful-enchantress-there-is-no-contest-against-a-woman/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [No one in the modern world controls the wealth or territory that Cleopatra did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/no-one-in-the-modern-world-controls-the-wealth-or-territory-that/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [Cleopatra had one great advantage. She lived at a time when female sovereigns were not anomalies. And when women enjoyed rights they would not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/cleopatra-had-one-great-advantage-she-lived-at-a-time-when-female/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) ## More by Stacy Schiff > [As always, an educated woman was a dangerous woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/as-always-an-educated-woman-was-a-dangerous-woman/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [Recently a study proved that working from a larger, less cluttered computer screen increases concentration. I could have told them that. And yes, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/recently-a-study-proved-that-working-from-a-larger-less-cluttered/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [“She did not believe Fate as painstaking as her husband; she was more inclined to take matters into her own hands. She had ample…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/she-did-not-believe-fate-as-painstaking-as-her-husband-she-was-more/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [What we know about Cleopatra's looks is based purely on her coin portraits. Engraving was imperfect, and that when you are a ruler and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/what-we-know-about-cleopatra-s-looks-is-based-purely-on-her-coin/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [No one in the modern world controls the wealth or territory that Cleopatra did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/no-one-in-the-modern-world-controls-the-wealth-or-territory-that/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [“Against a powerful enchantress there is no contest. Against a woman who ensnares a man in the coils of her serpentine intelligence - in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/against-a-powerful-enchantress-there-is-no-contest-against-a-woman/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [Motherhood is always an act of courage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/motherhood-is-always-an-act-of-courage/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [“Nabokov complained he was afflicted with total recall, an affliction of which he could be miraculously cured by the presence of a biographer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/nabokov-complained-he-was-afflicted-with-total-recall-an-affliction/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [“History existed to be retold, with more panache but not necessarily greater accuracy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/history-existed-to-be-retold-with-more-panache-but-not-necessarily/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [“Véra assumed her married name almost as a stage name; rarely has matrimony so much represented a profession. It was one of the ironies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/v-ra-assumed-her-married-name-almost-as-a-stage-name-rarely-has/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [When a woman teams up with a snake a moral storm threatens somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/when-a-woman-teams-up-with-a-snake-a-moral-storm-threatens-somewhere/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [The interesting thing about Cleopatra is that she is such a shape-shifter. I mean through history we've all molded her to our times and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/the-interesting-thing-about-cleopatra-is-that-she-is-such-a-shape/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [parenting is an exercise in unintended consequences.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/parenting-is-an-exercise-in-unintended-consequences/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [Strangely enough, politics may just be the one realm in which having kids imposes no penalty on women. Kids are practically a necessity. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/strangely-enough-politics-may-just-be-the-one-realm-in-which-having/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [I don't think there is ever objective biography. Our vision of our subject is always shaped by who we are. So I do, of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/i-don-t-think-there-is-ever-objective-biography-our-vision-of-our/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) [Explore all 86 Stacy Schiff quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) ## More Cleopatra quotes > [“There's beggary in the love that can be reckoned. (Anthony and Cleopatra - William Shakespeare.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-stuart/there-s-beggary-in-the-love-that-can-be-reckoned-anthony-and/) Sarah Stuart > [I'm certainly no Cleopatra. I have legs like a schoolgirl and I don't know how I acquired the knack of attracting producers with very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-tushingham/i-m-certainly-no-cleopatra-i-have-legs-like-a-schoolgirl-and-i-don-t/) [Rita Tushingham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-tushingham/) > [Vanity is illustrated in the cause and effect of love, as in the case of Cleopatra.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/vanity-is-illustrated-in-the-cause-and-effect-of-love-as-in-the-case/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [What we know about Cleopatra's looks is based purely on her coin portraits. Engraving was imperfect, and that when you are a ruler and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/what-we-know-about-cleopatra-s-looks-is-based-purely-on-her-coin/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [No one in the modern world controls the wealth or territory that Cleopatra did.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/no-one-in-the-modern-world-controls-the-wealth-or-territory-that/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [Girls have always wanted to be pretty, even in Egyptian times. Cleopatra wore all that eyeliner, you know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rita-ora/girls-have-always-wanted-to-be-pretty-even-in-egyptian-times/) [Rita Ora](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rita-ora/) > [“Her passions are made of nothing but the finest part of pure love; we cannot call her winds and waters, sighs and tears; they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/her-passions-are-made-of-nothing-but-the-finest-part-of-pure-love-we/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“O, whither hast thou led me, Egypt? See How I convey my shame out of thine eyes By looking back what I have left…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/o-whither-hast-thou-led-me-egypt-see-how-i-convey-my-shame-out-of/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Against a powerful enchantress there is no contest. Against a woman who ensnares a man in the coils of her serpentine intelligence - in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/against-a-powerful-enchantress-there-is-no-contest-against-a-woman/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [“History existed to be retold, with more panache but not necessarily greater accuracy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/history-existed-to-be-retold-with-more-panache-but-not-necessarily/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [The interesting thing about Cleopatra is that she is such a shape-shifter. I mean through history we've all molded her to our times and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-schiff/the-interesting-thing-about-cleopatra-is-that-she-is-such-a-shape/) [Stacy Schiff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-schiff/) > [“Cleopatra's nose, had it been shorter, the whole face of the world would have been changed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/blaise-pascal/cleopatra-s-nose-had-it-been-shorter-the-whole-face-of-the-world/) [Blaise Pascal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/blaise-pascal/) > [The truth is very few of us are related to Napoleon or Cleopatra. Although, those are bad examples as I am actually descended from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-piddock/the-truth-is-very-few-of-us-are-related-to-napoleon-or-cleopatra/) [Jim Piddock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-piddock/) > [“Not romantic," she disagreed. "To me it would be romantic if Antony properly fell on his sword and kicked the bucket and Cleopatra escaped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-gantos/not-romantic-she-disagreed-to-me-it-would-be-romantic-if-antony/) [Jack Gantos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-gantos/) > [“If fourteen people believe they were Cleopatra in a former life, does that mean that Cleopatra had split personality disorder?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patricia-briggs/if-fourteen-people-believe-they-were-cleopatra-in-a-former-life-does/) [Patricia Briggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patricia-briggs/) Browse all 89 Cleopatra quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Cleopatra stood at one of the most dangerous intersections in history; that of women and power. 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