When discussing Shakespeare’s classical tragedies, one name keeps cropping up — that is the name of Sir Thomas North, whose English version of Plutarch’s Lives was Shakespeare’s main source. We know this because in such plays as Coriolanus and Julius Caesar, the sequence of events was almost exactly the same as it appeared in North, and often the wording was almost the same as well. This is not to say that Shakespeare merely copied North; Shakespeare’s version was in verse, while North’s was prose. However, there is no disputing that North’s work was very influential and useful to our Bard.

Why did Shakespeare do it this way? Of course we can’t know for certain. We believe that Shakespeare had studied Latin, but perhaps not well enough to read Plutarch and other classical authors himself. There was nothing embarrassing about this; even North didn’t translate directly from Latin (in this case, he translated from an earlier French translation.)

Certainly, everyone knew that the story was not original with Shakespeare. Cleopatra was legendary as the most beautiful woman of all time, and her love affair with Mark Anthony ranks right up there with Romeo and Juliet’s, not least for the way it ended. Interesting contrast between the two stories: both women faked their deaths inside a tomb; Romeo then poisoned himself, and Juliet stabbed herself when she found out; Antony, however, stabbed himself and Cleopatra poisoned herself (with a snake bite).

Mark Antony, Octavius and Lepidus had also appeared in the earlier Shakespeare play Julius Caesar, agreeing among themselves that they would jointly rule the empire following the death of Julius. However, Antony had gone to Egypt to demand that Cleopatra, the former mistress of Julius, support them in their civil war against those who assassinated Julius. Instead, he fell in love with her and abandoned his wife and duties to live with her in Egypt. What power she had over powerful men! First Julius, then Mark Antony fell under her charms. If she had lived, would Augustus Caesar have been her next conquest?

A soothsayer also appears in both plays, foretelling the death of Julius in Julius Caesar, and predicting Antony’s downfall now.

According to legend, Antony once bragged about his skill at fishing, and so, as a practical joke, Cleopatra sent a diver to put a dried and salted fish on his fishing line. This is referred to in Act 2 scene 5.

Octavius claims to be the son of Julius Caesar. He was actually his nephew, but Julius also adopted him as his own son and made him his heir and successor.
Many years ago there was a brilliant British television production called I, Claudius, the story of the Caesars of Rome, from Augustus to Nero. It’s worth watching just to see the all-star cast of Derek Jacobi and John Hurt as well as many other famous actors. It’s relevant to this play because several of the characters from that play appear in this one: Agrippa, Octavia, and Octavius, who would one day change his name to Augustus Caesar. After being married to Antony, Octavia had a daughter, Antonia, named in honor of her father (before he ran off to be with Cleopatra). And many years later, Antonia would become the mother of Claudius, the role which Derek Jacobi played.

Vocabulary:
abiliments – clothes
art or hap – skill or luck
aspic (asp) – a deadly snake
bench-holes – the holes in the seat of an outhouse or privy
boggler – shifty person
chaps – jaws
chare – chore,task
garboils – disturbances
mandragora – opium-like drug
spleet – split
stale – urine
strook – struck

Classical references:
Apollodorus – Cleopatra first met Julius Caesar as a teenager. According to legend, she did this by smuggling herself into his tent wrapped in a rolled-up carpet, and Apollodorus was the one who carried it in.
Hercules – there are frequent references to this mythical hero; Antony claims to be descended from him.
Nereides – sea-nymphs (like mermaids)
Nessus – a Centaur slain by Hercules. Before he died, he told the wife of Hercules to save some of his blood on a shirt, because it would act as a love charm. She believed him, and secretly sent the shirt to Hercules. Instead, when he put on the shirt it killed him, and Nessus had his revenge.
Parthia – present-day Iran
(my) salad days – in my youth. This is believed to be the first appearance of what has for four hundred years been a very popular expression.

ACT 1
scene 1
Mark Antony is interrupted by his idyllic life in Egypt with news from Rome, but he refuses to hear it.
scene 2
Antony learns that his wife Fulvia in Rome is dead, and that the son of Pompey is continuing his father’s civil war. He is reluctant to leave Cleopatra, but knows he is honor-bound to assist.
scene 3
Antony leaves Cleopatra, but she pouts and tries to make him feel guilty for doing it.
scene 4
Caesar (Octavius) and Lepidus are planning for the campaign against Pompey, who has a strong navy. Caesar is anxious for Antony to return to help him.
scene 5
Cleopatra misses Antony terribly. The use of poison and snakes is ominously foreshadowed.

ACT 2
scene 1
Pompey prepares for battle with Caesar and Lepidus, but respects Antony as an enemy even more.
scene 2
Very tense meeting between Caesar and Antony. Among the issues of contention is Fulvia and Antony’s brother taking sides against Caesar, although Antony had nothing to do with it. To patch things over, since Fulvia is dead, Antony agrees to marry Caesar’s sister Octavia.
scene 3
Antony marries Octavia, and immediately takes his leave of her. Antony is supposed to go to war against the Middle East military power Parthia, but he sends Ventidius, a subordinate, when the soothsayer predicts that Antony’s luck will run out. In particular, he is warned that Caesar’s luck will always be better than his own.
scene 4
Short scene; preparation for battle with Pompey.
scene 5
When a messenger arrives with news about Antony, Cleopatra takes it into her head that he has died. Instead, she learns that Antony has married Octavia, and takes that news badly too.
scene 6
Pompey has a parley with Caesar and Antony. Despite grievances including complaints that Antony had cheated him out of his father’s house, they resolve all their differences and throw a party to celebrate.
scene 7
After a night of heavy drinking, the generals are getting very friendly. Menas suggests that Pompey could easily cut the throats of the others and take over the empire, but he is too honorable to take his advice.

ACT 3
scene 1
Ventidius utterly triumphs over the Parthians, killing the king’s son. However, he is cautious about doing too good a job in Antony’s place, knowing that it would reflect badly on Antony.
scene 2
Octavia says goodbye to her brother and Rome, as she leaves with Antony for his house in Athens.
scene 3
Cleopatra jealously compares herself to Octavia, and decides that Antony can’t love Octavia very much.
scene 4
Antony takes offense at some things Caesar has said about him, and Octavia agrees to try to mediate between them.
scene 5
Caesar has also turned on his friend Lepidus to take more power for himself.
scene 6
Caesar discusses his disputes with Antony: among other things, he has declared himself emperor. Octavia tries to make peace, but Caesar claims that Antony is building alliances with rival kingdoms, and that he has returned to Cleopatra.
scene 7
Cleopatra in fact has joined Antony at Actium in Greece, and insists on taking part in the military planning. Antony resolves to fight Caesar by sea, ignoring warnings that his navy is not up to the task.
scene 8, scene 9
Antony and Caesar prepare for battle.
scene 10
In the middle of the battle Cleopatra orders her ships to retreat, and Antony follows. The result is a humiliating defeat for Antony.
scene 11
Antony knows he has lost all his honor by fleeing the battle.
scene 12
Antony and Cleopatra send a messenger to arrange their surrender to Caesar. Caesar offers to let Cleopatra off lightly if she agrees to kill Antony.
scene 13
Antony is reconsidering his surrender, and decides to challenge Caesar to hand-to-hand combat. Cleopatra begins to make a deal for herself behind Antony’s back. However, Antony goes into a jealous rage at seeing the messenger kiss Cleopatra’s hand, so he orders the messenger whipped — an unforgivable breach of the rules of war. He completely changes his mind about surrender, and vows to return to battle and beat Caesar.

ACT 4
scene 1
Caesar is amazed that, even though Antony is hopelessly outnumbered, he continues to challenge Caesar to fight.
scene 2
Antony speaks to Enobarbus and his other loyal followers, thanking them for their service and promising to lead them in battle the next day.
scene 3
Cleopatra’s soldiers stay up late, worried about the next day’s battle.
scene 4
Cleopatra helps Antony put his armor on.
scene 5
Antony gets a shock when he learns that Enobarbus, his best and most loyal friend, has deserted him and gone to Caesar’s camp. Antony orders that Enobarbus’ belongings be sent after him, along with a letter gently bidding him farewell.
scene 6
Caesar orders that the deserters from Antony’s army fight him first. Enobarbus observes that Caesar has treated other deserters equally badly. When he finds out that Antony has sent his belongings after him, he is struck with grief that he betrayed such a noble master.
scene 7
Antony is wounded, but succeeds in driving Caesar off the battlefield.
scene 8
Antony celebrates his victory, and promises to defeat Caesar in the morning.
scene 9
As two guards watch, Enobarbus repents of betraying Antony, and kills himself.
scene 10, 11
Caesar prepares to fight Antony by sea again, but Antony is ready to fight him anywhere.
scene 12
To Antony’s shock, Cleopatra surrenders her navy to Caesar. He swears to kill her for it.
scene 13
Charmian advises Cleopatra to hide in a tomb, and send word that she’s already dead.
scene 14
Antony hears the false news that Cleopatra is dead, and decides to follow her in death. He asks Eros to kill him, but Eros can’t bring himself to keep his promise to do so, and kills himself instead. Antony now falls on his own sword, but doesn’t die, and none of his friends will end his suffering. Too late he learns that Cleopatra isn’t really dead, and has himself carried to her hiding place.
scene 15
Antony makes it to Cleopatra’s side before dying. He tells her to take her chances with Caesar, but she can’t bear the idea of being humiliated by him, and especially by Octavia.

ACT 5
scene 1
Decretas, taking Antony’s bloody sword, shows it to Caesar to prove that Antony is dead. Caesar sends word to Cleopatra to prepare her for her surrender.
scene 2
Cleopatra learns that Caesar intends to exhibit her in Rome, and above all, prevent her from killing herself to rob him of his triumph. However, she has some poisonous snakes smuggled to her in a basket of figs, and succeeds in joining Antony in death.

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history notes, courtesy of Microsoft Encarta
Antony, Mark (Latin Marcus Antonius) (83?-30 BC), Roman statesman and general, who defeated the assassins of Julius Caesar and, with Gaius Octavius and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, formed the Second Triumvirate, which ultimately secured the end of the Roman Republic.
Antony was born in Rome and educated for a short time in Greece. From 58 to 56 BC he served as a leader of cavalry in Roman campaigns in Palestine and Egypt, and from 54 to 50 BC he served in Gaul under Julius Caesar. Subsequently, with Caesar’s aid, he attained the offices of quaestor, augur, and tribune of the people. At the outbreak of the civil war between Caesar and the Roman soldier and statesman Pompey the Great, Antony was appointed Caesar’s commander in chief in Italy. He commanded the left wing of Caesar’s army at the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC, and in 44 BC he shared the consulship with Caesar.
After the assassination of Caesar in 44 BC, Antony’s skillful oratory, immortalized by Shakespeare in the play Julius Caesar, turned the Roman people against the conspirators, leaving Antony for a time with almost absolute power in Rome. A rival soon appeared, however, in the person of Gaius Octavius, later the Roman emperor Augustus, who was grandnephew of Caesar and Caesar’s designated heir. A struggle for power broke out when Antony, Octavius, and a third contender for the throne, the Roman general Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, formed the Second Triumvirate and agreed to divide the Roman Empire among themselves.
In 42 BC, at Philippi, the triumvirate crushed the forces led by two assassins of Caesar, the Roman statesmen Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, who sought to restore the Roman Republic. Later in the same year, Antony summoned the Egyptian queen Cleopatra to attend him in the city of Tarsus, in Cilicia (now in Turkey), and explain her refusal to aid the triumvirate in the civil war. Instead of punishing Cleopatra, however, Antony fell in love with her and returned with her to Egypt in 41 BC. In 40 BC he attended meetings of the triumvirate in Italy, at which a new division of the Roman world was arranged, with Antony receiving the eastern portion, from the Adriatic Sea to the Euphrates River; in the same year he attempted to cement his relations with Octavius by marrying the latter’s sister Octavia. Nevertheless, Antony soon returned to Egypt and resumed his life with Cleopatra. Octavius made use of this fact to excite the indignation of the Roman people against Antony. When, in 36 BC, Antony was defeated in a military expedition against the Parthians, popular disapproval of his conduct deepened in Rome, and a new civil war became inevitable. In 31 BC the forces of Antony and Cleopatra were decisively defeated by those of Octavius in a naval engagement near Actium. The couple returned to Egypt, deserted by the Egyptian fleet and by most of Antony’s own army. In the following year, besieged by the troops of Octavius in Alexandria and deceived by a false report of Cleopatra’s suicide, Antony killed himself by falling on his sword.

Cleopatra (69-30 BC), ill-fated queen of Egypt (51-30 BC), celebrated for her love affairs with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony. Cleopatra, or more precisely, Cleopatra VII, was the daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes, king of Egypt. On her father’s death in 51 BC Cleopatra, then about 17 years old, and her brother, Ptolemy XIII, a child of about 12 years, succeeded jointly to the throne of Egypt with the provision that they should marry. In the third year of their reign Ptolemy, encouraged by his advisers, assumed sole control of the government and drove Cleopatra into exile. She promptly gathered an army in Syria but was unable to assert her claim until the arrival at Alexandria of Julius Caesar, who became her lover and espoused her cause. He was for a time hard pressed by the Egyptians but ultimately triumphed, and in 47 BC Ptolemy XIII was killed. Caesar proclaimed Cleopatra queen of Egypt.
Cleopatra was then forced by custom to marry her younger brother, Ptolemy XIV, then about 11 years old. After settling their joint government on a secure basis, Cleopatra went to Rome, where she lived as Caesar’s mistress. She gave birth to a son, Caesarion, later Ptolemy XV; it is believed that Caesar was his father. After Caesar’s assassination in 44 BC, Cleopatra is said to have poisoned Ptolemy XIV. She then returned to Egypt and made Caesarion her coregent. Because Cleopatra hesitated to take sides in the civil war following Caesar’s death, Mark Antony summoned her to meet him to explain her conduct. He fell in love with her and returned with her to Egypt. After living with her for some time, Antony was compelled to return to Rome, where he married Octavia, a sister of Caesar’s heir Octavian, later Roman emperor as Augustus. After Antony’s departure Cleopatra bore him twins. In 36 BC Antony went to the East as commander of an expedition against the Parthians. He sent for Cleopatra, who joined him at Antioch. They were married, and a third child was born. In 34 BC, after a successful campaign against the Parthians, he celebrated his triumph at Alexandria. He continued to reside in Egypt. In 32 BC, when Octavian declared war against Cleopatra and Antony, Antony divorced Octavia.
Cleopatra insisted on taking part in the campaign. At the naval engagement at Actium in 31 BC, believing Antony’s defeat to be inevitable, she withdrew her fleet from action, and she and Antony fled to Alexandria. On the approach of Octavian, Antony, deceived by a false report of the death of the queen, committed suicide. Hearing that Octavian intended to exhibit her in his triumph at Rome, Cleopatra killed herself, probably by poison, or, according to an old tradition, by the bite of an asp. Caesarion, the last member of the Ptolemy dynasty, was put to death by Octavian, and Egypt subsequently became a Roman province.
Cleopatra’s life has formed the basis for many literary works, the most notable of which are the plays Antony and Cleopatra by Shakespeare, All for Love by the English dramatist John Dryden, and Caesar and Cleopatra by the British playwright George Bernard Shaw.

courtesy of http://www.britannica.com/shakespeare/micro/428/93.html)
North, Sir Thomas
(b. May 28, 1535, London, Eng.–d. 1601?), English translator whose version of Plutarch’s Bioi paralleloi (Parallel Lives) was the source for many of William Shakespeare’s plays.
North may have been a student at Peterhouse, Cambridge, and, in 1557, he was entered at Lincoln’s Inn, London, where he joined a group of young lawyers interested in translating. In 1574 North accompanied his brother on a diplomatic mission to France. Thomas North had an extensive military career: he fought twice in Ireland as captain (1582 and 1596-97), served in the Low Countries in defense of the Dutch against the Spanish (1585-87), and trained militia against the threatened invasion of England by the Spanish Armada in 1588. He was knighted about 1596-97, was justice of the peace for Cambridge, and was pensioned by Queen Elizabeth in 1601.
In 1557 North translated, under the title The Diall of Princes, a French version of Antonio de Guevara’s purported Spanish translation of the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius. Although North retained Guevara’s mannered style, he was also capable of quite a different kind of work. His translation of Asian beast fables from the Italian, The Morall Philosophie of Doni (1570), for example, was a rapid and colloquial narrative. His The Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romanes, translated in 1579 from Jacques Amyot’s French version of Plutarch’s Parallel Lives, has been described as one of the earliest masterpieces of English prose. Shakespeare borrowed from North’s Lives for his Roman plays–Antony and Cleopatra, Julius Caesar, Timon of Athens, and Coriolanus–and, in fact, he put some of North’s prose directly into blank verse, with only minor changes.