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Pharaoh Cleopatra and Empress Wu Zetian belonged to different cultures and lived and ruled in different periods, but they were both shining examples of how women could gain and retain power in the patriarchal world. Cleopatra, who lived in 51-30 BC, was an Egyptian Pharaoh during the Ptolemaic dynasty. Cleopatra was chosen for analysis because despite being a female with limited possibilities, she managed to rule Egypt in the time of important battles with Rome.
Cleopatra was wise and exploited her femininity and motherhood to her advantage (Tyldesley, 1, p. 5). Wu Zetian, or Wu Zhao, was a Chinese Empress during the Tang dynasty of the late 660s. The reason for choosing Wu Zhao was that she was able to take control of power being not only a woman but also a concubine (Rothschild, 2, p. 65). Thus, her chances to obtain power were even less likely than any other womans.
The main similarity between the two female rulers was their leadership style. Both Cleopatra and Wu Zhao were known for their cunning and severe measures employed to maintain their position. Sometimes, the level of slyness demonstrated by them reached unprecedented levels. For instance, Wu Zhao killed her own baby just to make the Emperor think that his wife did it (Woo, 3, p. 54). As a result, Wu Zhao managed to move to the Emperors chamber and stay there all the time, although it was a rare practice.
An example of Cleopatras wit and guile was quite similar, though not as cruel. On one occasion, she herself poisoned flowers in her crown and pretended that someone had done it with the aim of killing her (Tyldesley, 1, p. 154). Another similarity between the two selected rulers was the legendary associations with their personalities. People used to worship Cleopatra and considered her as a wise mother goddess (Tyldesley, 1, p. 206). Wu Zhaos image was related to such legends as the ability to make flowers bloom in winter and the gift of predicting the future (Woo, 3, p. 174).
Despite some common issues in both female leaders ruling styles, they were quite dissimilar. The main difference was the family background of Cleopatra and Wu Zhao. Although both women came from wealthy families, their positions in society were rather different. Cleopatra was the daughter of the king, Ptolemy IX (Tyldesley, 1, p. 10). Cleopatra inherited the throne due to the shortage of male heirs. Wu Zhaos father was a merchant, who led a family business together with his brothers (Woo, 3, p. 5).
After her fathers death, Wu Zhaos mother moved with her daughters to the capital, where the girls beauty was noticed by the Emperor, who made her his concubine (Woo, 3, p. 31). The second difference between the two rulers was their attitude toward diplomacy, which resulted in their impact on peoples lives. Wu Zhao managed to arrange good relationships with the neighboring countries, such as Tibet, the Tujue Clan, and Korea (Woo, 3, p. 159). Meanwhile, Cleopatra cared more about her own power and obtaining more land than the quality of life her people had.
The cultures in which Cleopatra and Wu Zhou lived were quite different. Egyptian culture and religion were diminished and distorted by the effect of Roman and Greek culture (Tyldesley, 1, p. 3). The predominant language was Greek, and people used to worship curious hybrid gods (Tyldesley, 1, p. 3). Meanwhile, China in Wu Zhous period was known as following the culture of powerful female divinities and culture heroes (Rothschild, 2, p. 96).
The second cultural divergence was the governments of the two countries in which Cleopatra and Wu Zhao ruled. Egypt was divided into city-states, each of them having separate laws and regulations. During Cleopatras rule, there were only several years of stability in Egypt (Tyldesley, 1, p. 162). Although both Cleopatra and Wu Zhao ruled in monarchies, China had a more comprehensive division of governmental levels, and betraying the government was punished by death (Woo, 3, p. 19). There were also social castes in China: officials, peasants, workers, and merchants (Woo, 3, p. 5). Therefore, political and religious lives in the two rulers countries were rather dissimilar.
The comparison of the two prominent female ruler figures allows making some conclusions about the past and contemporary leadership approaches. Firstly, I learned that in the past, people used much more violent ways of gaining power. Killing their own children or husbands and making legitimate wives or ancestors leave their deserved places in the palace seem too unjustified reasons to be used merely to obtain the crown. I do not think that modern politicians would resort to such unpopular measures to win the elections. Secondly, I also found out a rather striking similarity between rulers of different periods.
Both earlier and at present, people of power resort to cunning and trickery to make themselves look better in front of ordinary people. In the past, such a guile was represented by false information about ones enemies. At present, the situation is quite the same, only modern politicians can employ mass media to make the untruthful data about their rivals spread with the speed of light.
References
- Tyldesley, Joyce. 2009. Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt. Web.
- Rothschild, N. Harry. 2015. Emperor Wu Zhao and Her Pantheon of Devis, Divinities, and Dynastic Mothers. Web.
- Woo, X. L. 2008. Empress Wu the Great: Tang Dynasty China. Web.
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