Undergraduate 

Classics (Classical Civilisation) MA/MA(SocSci)

Cleopatra: Life and Legend (Hons) CLASSIC4072

  • Academic Session: 2025-26
  • School: School of Humanities
  • Credits: 20
  • Level: Level 4 (SCQF level 10)
  • Typically Offered: Either Semester 1 or Semester 2
  • Available to Visiting Students: Yes
  • Collaborative Online International Learning: No
  • Curriculum For Life: No

Short Description

This course explores the literary, documentary and archaeological evidence, and incorporates elements of Classical Reception, in order to explore the life, death and legend of Cleopatra VII, the last queen of Egypt.

Timetable

10x1hr lectures; 10x1hr seminars per week over 10 weeks as scheduled on MyCampus. This is one of the Honours

options in Classics and may not run every year. The options that are running this session are available on

MyCampus

Excluded Courses

None

Assessment

Book Review (750 words) 25%.

TV programme/Film Review (750 words) 25%.

Essay (2,000 words) 50%.

Main Assessment In: April/May

Are reassessment opportunities available for all summative assessments? Not applicable for Honours courses

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below. 

Course Aims

This course aims to:

■ Enable students to become familiar with the events of the life and death of Cleopatra VII;

■ Enable students to engage closely with the sources for the events of the life and death of Cleopatra VII and evaluate their historical worth;

■ Enable students to investigate the reception of Cleopatra VII from antiquity to the present.

Intended Learning Outcomes of Course

By the end of this course students will be able to:

• Place the historical events of the life of Cleopatra VII in their larger historical and cultural context;

• Analyse and evaluate the literary, documentary and archaeological sources for these events;

• Formulate their own opinions regarding how the sources have been received, repurposed and reimagined from antiquity to the present, and argue them in a lucid and scholarly manner.

Minimum Requirement for Award of Credits

Students must submit at least 75% by weight of the components (including examinations) of the course's summative assessment.