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Background
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- English Title: Asterix
and Cleopatra
- French Title: Asterix
chez Cleopatre
- Asterix Book Number:
6
- First Published: 1965
- First Published in English:
1969
- Written by:
Rene Goscinny
- Illustrated by: Albert
Uderzo
- Translated By:
Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge
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Asterix and Cleopatra spoofs the 1963 film
"Cleopatra" starring Elizabeth Taylor. In fact,
the positions of the characters on the cover is taken from
one of Cleopatra's movie posters:
Asterix and Cleopatra is one of the most popular
books in the Asterix series, and as a testament to this there
have been two Asterix movies adapted from the book. The first
in 1968 was a cartoon movie of
the same name as the book. In 2002 a live action movie
was released named Asterix
and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra.
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Plot
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How can Queen Cleopatra prove to Julius
Caesar that Egypt is still a great nation? She promises
to build him a magnificent palace within three months, and
commisions Edifis, the best architect in Alexandria... which
isn't saying much.
Luckily Edifis has an old friend in Gaul,
Getafix the Druid. Getafix, Asterix, and Obelix - not forgetting
little Dogmatix - go to Egypt to help on the building site.
By the time they have seen the pyramids and the Sphinx,
and have outwitted several villians and the Roman army,
they certainly deserve their luxurious voyage home on Cleopatra's
state barge - and the queen has won her bet with Caesar.
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Take
a look Inside
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You can view Images
from Asterix and Cleopatra here.
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Notable
Characters
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Queen Cleopatra
- What it means: No meaning. Cleopatra was
the last Queen of Egypt and mistress to Julius Caesar.
- About : Cleopatra is regarded as a beautiful
Queen of the Nile, with special emphasis on her beautiful
nose. Even Caesar is enchanted by her! But Caesar makes
the claim that the Egyptians are a decadent nation, whose
image is built on former glories. Cleopatra shows her angry
nature when she breaks a priceless vase and makes the claim
that her people will build a palace for Caesar in three
months.When she pays ingognito vists to the building sight,
she rides on a huge throne in the shape of a cat pulled
by many Egyptains. Makes you wonder what her official visits
would mean!
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What it means: Edifice (large,
imposing building)
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About: Edifis is regarded
as the best architect in Alexandria... but only because
the competitors for the title are even worse than he is.
His buildings are wobbly with many design problems (doors
that don't open, uneven stairs). He feels unfulffiled
in his work, with his main aim to build pyramids. When
Cleopatra calls on him to build a palace in three months,
he enlists the help of his old friend Getafix.
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Artifis and Krukhut
- What it means: Artifice (a sly or artful
trick)/Crew cut (as in the haircut)
- About: Artifis is Edifis' rival and wants
nothing more to see him end up in a Crocodile, as he believes
he should have been the one chosen for the palace building
task. He tries many ways to stop Edifis from succeeding,
like stirring Edifis' workers against him.
When that doesn't work, he orders his faithful servant
Krukhut to pay the captain shipping quarry to the building
site to throw his cargo overboard. Krukhut then pretends
to be a tourist guide, showing Asterix, Obelix and Getafix
the interior of pyramid, and locks them in! He swears
that if the Gaul's ever get out he'll never shave his
head again. Needless to say his hair had grown quite long
by the end of the book! Artifis tries one more time to
foil Edifis and the Gauls by baking a poisonous cake,
delivering it to Cleopatra and saying it was from the
Gauls. But the Gauls find a way out of the situation and
force Artifis and Krukhut to work on the building site...
without magic potion of course!
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The
Asterix and Cleopatra Cover
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The original Asterix and Cleopatra cover was completely
different to the other series covers. Instead of having
a picture that took up most of the cover, there was a small
strip of a picture with the following text underneath:
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"THE GREATEST STORY EVER
DRAWN 14 litres of Indian Ink, 30 brushes, 62 pencils,
1 hard pencil. 27 erasers, 1984 sheets of paper, 16
typewriter ribbons, 2 typewriters, 366 pints of beer
went into this creation!"
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Clearly an Elisabeth Taylor Cleopatra Movie spoof. The
recent re-edition of Asterix and Cleopatra in 2004 removed
the text. It was even included in one of the inside covers.
Some people may have not got the reference, but even without
knowing it, the text is still funny - especially the bit
about the beer! So by removing it, what was a special book
is now a not so special book, which is a great shame.
Here are some Asterix and Cleopatra covers of interest:
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What the original cover for Asterix
and Cleopatra looked like.
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The 2004 Asterix and Cleopatra Re-edition
cover
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A 2002 German
Asterix and Cleopatra. Suprisingly like the other
"new" one.. What is more surprising is it
says the text AND the illustrations are done by Uderzo..
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The cover for the
small, black and white Knight Edition of Asterix and
Cleopatra. Presumably specially drawn for this version.
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The Estonian Asterix
and Cleopatra Edition.
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A Swedish Asterix
and Cleopatra Edition.
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Look
out for...
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- That nose
- References to the film "Cleopatra"
- "Pnuts" and "Tarzan" comics
- How the sphinx lost its nose
- Obelix finally getting some magic potion
- Asterix
and Cleopatra Mistakes
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Buy
Asterix and Cleopatra
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