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This head of Cleopatra — called the Berlin Cleopatra for its placement in Germany’s Altes Museum — depicts the last of the Ptolemaic rulers as a traditional Macedonian matron with Hellenistic features, a Macedonian diadem and her hair in a chignon. It was made in Rome about the time of her visits there in 46 to 44 B.C.

'A bourn how far to be beloved': 'Queen Cleopatra' and cultural appropriation

May 12, 2023

The latest tizzy in the culture wars pits Egypt against the Netflix series “Queen Cleopatra,” which bowed Wednesday, May 10, starring a Black actress, Adele James, in the title role. Many Egyptians and some historians have taken exception with this, pointing out that Cleopatra was the last of the Ptolemaic rulers of Egypt and as such was of Greco-Macedonian descent. But I think with a little imagination and a lot of understanding we can have a Black Cleopatra and an historically accurate one as well.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (top left) meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden on former President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, Feb. 12, 2021 at the Oval Office to discuss the American Rescue Plan. Less than a month later his… — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (top left) meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden on former President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday, Feb. 12, 2021 at the Oval Office to discuss the American Rescue Plan. Less than a month later his career is threatened by his coverup of nursing home deaths and inappropriate behavior with women. Photograph by Adam Schultz/White House.

Born for the storm: Cuomo and the conundrum of context

March 7, 2021

Context drives perception. And, in the words of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, “there’s nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.”

The manipulative charm that enabled former President Franklin D. Roosevelt to prepare his frightened, ill-equipped countrymen for World War II and lead them through it also devastated his wife, Eleanor. The arrogant titling at windmills that made former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani look so petty in dealing with his wife, Donna Hanover, and the Rev. Al Sharpton seemed Churchillian on 9/11.

Some people are, in the words of former President Andrew Jackson, “born for the storm.” That they are just as good at securing the peace is less certain.

Which brings us to embattled New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

“The Battle of Agincourt” from Enguerrand de Monstrelet’s “Chronique de France.” (circa 1495), manuscript on parchment.

Pawn to king in a real 'Game of Thrones'

April 13, 2019

“Game of Thrones” has returned, but I gave up on it after the first season. I found it sexist and misogynistic. If you’re going to show female nudity, then you have to show male nudity, as HBO did on “Rome.”

In any event, “GOT” had nothing on the Plantagenets, the Rolls-Royce of English royal families.

**Eugene Delacroix’s “Hamlet and Horatio in the Graveyard” (1839), oil on canvas. Musée du Louvre.**

Dog day afternoon

March 24, 2019

A brief survey of friends and family finds their moods in line with mine: The results of the Mueller report, released Sunday afternoon, have left us disappointed but not surprised.

Il Sodoma's "Marriage of Alexander and Roxane" (1517), a fresco in the Villa Farnesina. Alexander and Roxane figure in Rudyard Kipling's "The Man Who Would Be King," a cautionary tale about demagoguery.

The battle for narrative in the age of Trump

July 28, 2018

Donald Trump controls the national narrative. Instead of complaining about it, his critics need to ask this salient question: How are they to wrest control of it from him?…

Making America (Alexander the) Great again

July 18, 2017

Thursday, July 20 marks the anniversary of the birth of Alexander the Great in 356 B.C. in Pella, the capital of ancient Macedon, now Macedonia, a region in northern Greece.

Alexander has been an obsession of mine since childhood, when I read the legends associated with his conquests of the Persian Empire in 331 B.C. From Alexander, I learned how to navigate difficult parents and how to lead from the front – skills that would later serve me well in grappling with equally challenging bosses. Thanks to Alexander, I learned to work through pain, illness, grief. I figured if he could fight a battle with a punctured lung, I could gut life out. ...

Esteban Santiago and the unending narrative in the literature of rejection

January 8, 2017

When news broke of the murder of five people and the wounding of eight more at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, TV anchors were quick to note that we did not know the motivation of the alleged shooter, Esteban Santiago. This was to damp down the rampant speculation that has inflicted the digital age, in which what is said or written is considered true by virtue of the fact that it is said or written.

Admirable as such discretion is, I’m afraid we knew Santiago’s motives even before knowing his story. ...