Antony, Cleopatra and the Uses of Mythology

Abstract

This article discusses the uses of mythological allusions in Shakespeare’s

Antony and Cleopatra whose eponymous protagonists seem at times to reenact

such myths as those of Mars and Hercules, or of Venus and Isis, yet at

other times to debunk them. The chosen myths, however, are controversial

in themselves and enhance the well-known ambiguities of the main

characters and the multiple perspectives of interpretation of the play as a

whole.

Keywords: Antony and Cleopatra, Plutarch, Hercules, Isis, Venus, Mars