Orientalism and the Reception of Powerful Women from the Ancient World

Filippo Carlà-Uhink, Anja Wieber, Filippo Carlà-Uhink, Anja Wieber

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781350050129
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Art Theory & Criticism

Why is Cleopatra, a descendent of Alexander the Great, a Ptolemy from a Greek–Macedonian family, in popular imagination an Oriental woman? True, she assumed some aspects of pharaonic imagery in order to rule Egypt, but her Orientalism mostly derives from ancient (Roman) and modern stereotypes: both the Orient and the idea of a woman in power are signs, in the Western tradition, of 'otherness' – and in this sense they can easily overlap and interchange. This volume investigates how ancient women, and particularly powerful women, such as queens and empresses, have been re-imagined in Western (and not only Western) arts; highlights how this re-imagination and re-visualization is, more often than not, the product of Orientalist stereotypes – even when dealing with women who had nothing to do with Eastern regions; and compares these images with examples of Eastern gaze on the same women. Through the chapters in this volume, readers will discover the similarities and differences in the ways in which women in power were and still are described and decried by their opponents.

CHAPTER 1

SEMIRAMIDE IN INDIA: THE RECEPTION OF AN ANCIENT ORIENTAL WARRIOR QUEEN IN BAROQUE OPERA¹

Kerstin Droß-Krüpe

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In the early twentieth century, Mitchell Carroll, professor of classical languages at George Washington University, judged Semiramis as follows:

Those who look upon the present as the emancipation period in the history of woman have surely forgotten … Semiramis, who led her armies to battle when the Great King, Ninus, had let fall the sceptre from his weary hand, and who ruled her people with wisdom and justice … I do not believe that the present Empress of China [i.e. Empress Dowager Cixi], strong woman as she is, is greater than Semiramis, or that even Elizabeth of England was the equal of the warrior-queen of Babylon.²

But Semiramis, the legendary female ruler of Assyria and renowned sovereign of Babylon, was far from being seen that positively by everyone throughout the ages. For more than 2,500 years, she has oscillated between the image of a femme forte and a femme fatale. Until the early twentieth century, Semiramis was one of the most prominent female figures of Antiquity in cultural memory.³ Ancient sources alternately describe her with admiration and deep loathing. She subsequently evolved into the archetypal figure of a female Oriental sovereign, esempio di ben or esempio di mal, long-lived and much cited as an example. Her figure found its way into all genres of literature and art during medieval times and the Early Modern Age. One might even state that the figure of Semiramis has emanated such fascination for the European world of literature and theatre through the centuries that she has become a type of ‘general oriental archetype’.

Academic publications about Semiramis are numerous and come from a great variety of disciplines.⁴ However, comprehensive studies on her person in terms of the historical reception are still a lacuna in the research, although there are some tentative approaches.⁵ But in most studies on the reception of Semiramis, stage texts have hardly been explored or just been considered marginally. The notable exception is Cesare Questa, who has attempted to follow references to Semiramis on the opera stages.⁶ Opera as a genre preferred to adopt topics related to Antiquity from the moment of its creation and offers a very special medium of projection and reception in early modern times. It offers unique possibilities of expression, rife with clichés, bombast, and a kaleidoscope of exotic, fascinating, albeit completely unrealistic stories. Baroque opera especially was not only an entertainment industry but quintessentially a political medium – a site for both political and social representation. It functioned simultaneously as a place for moral and pleasurable edification, and as an entertaining didactic stage for the legitimate organizations and consequently the rendition of the social standards sanctioned by the society of the era. Based on about one-third of the available libretti that are connected to the figure of Semiramis, Questa provides a material or motif history of selected aspects. But Questa ignored one motif that was very present in relation to Semiramis in the ancient literature – namely, her military ambitions. Yet, Semiramis as a female warlord plays an important role in several opera texts.⁷

Within the scope of this chapter, the objective is to trace the military traits that transform Semiramis into a fascinating figure for classic Antiquity but also for the medieval and early modern Western world and particularly the Baroque opera. The focus is primarily on Semiramis’ campaign against the Indian king and its representation in the opera Semiramide in India (1648/9).

Semiramis in India – main sources and narratives from Antiquity to early modern times

In the Histories of Herodotus, Semiramis does not have a prominent role. His interest is directed towards other female figures such as Nitocris, whom he considers the founder of Babylon.⁸ The name of Semiramis is also mentioned in context with Nitocris: according to Herodotus, she ruled five generations before Nitocris. This is based on the idea of a glorious, great empire that was ruled from Babylon and of which Cyrus as its conqueror became a legitimate successor.⁹ Herodotus does not mention any military expeditions by Semiramis.

In the work of Ctesias of Cnidus, on whose description the later fame of Semiramis is based, the situation is entirely different. He discards Nitocris and the idea of an empire ruled from Babylon. Instead, he makes Semiramis the founder of Babylon – probably to highlight the subordination of Babylonia to Assyria¹⁰ – and he conceives her as a major military leader who only fails in the conquest of India. Unfortunately, his description of Semiramis, which was part of his main work, the Persica, is lost and only handed down by third parties. Episodes from Ctesias’ work have been integrated by later intermediaries into their writings, and they often reshaped them according to their own intentions.¹¹ Jan P. Stronk emphasizes that this involved ‘an interpretation and/or adaption – or at best an unbiased and reliable quotation or epitome’ in all cases.¹² This is even more regrettable since Ctesias’ Persica developed quite an enormous impact on ancient (and consequently Western) images of the Orient. It is the origin of the Western idea of Oriental rulers as decadent and effeminate despots, as well as other ‘facts’ of Oriental life that have become familiar by now, such as polygamy or the proverbial wealth of the Orient.¹³ Ctesias’ description of Semiramis’ campaign against the Indian king Stabrobates is extensively explained by Diodorus, who mentions Ctesias several times as his source of information.¹⁴ After a multitude of successful campaigns, Semiramis decided to prepare for war against India, which was considered to be the biggest and most beautiful country, blessed with abundant gold, silver, gemstones and the like.¹⁵ In contrast to the queen’s other military expeditions, Diodorus makes the point – and this appears to be his own addition – that her campaigns against India were not the result of political considerations but were solely motivated by Semiramis’ towering ambition¹⁶ and the prospect of spoils.¹⁷ This is one of the few moments in Diodorus’ description of the Babylonian queen putting Semiramis in a negative light: it creates the image of a militant, but also self-indulgent, and luxury-loving ruler. Diodorus provides a detailed description of the war preparations on both sides, which lasted for two years. In the first clash with the Indian king, the victory belongs to Semiramis. The second battle goes back and forth for a long time and claims many victims.¹⁸ Semiramis is ultimately defeated and flees back to Babylon with major losses.¹⁹

The extent to which Diodorus distanced himself from his reference text by Ctesias is difficult to decide, even if there are clear indications that he puts the Babylonian queen in a distinctly more positive light than his source.²⁰ That a woman and an Oriental could achieve something as unbelievable as a war against India at the perimeter of the populated world inspired and impressed both Greek and Roman authors. This especially applied to the Alexander Historians:²¹ Nearchos mentioned Semiramis’ expedition as the decisive motivation for Alexander’s campaign against India.²² He supposedly wanted to achieve something that even Semiramis and Cyrus could not accomplish or only achieved with great losses. Curtius Rufus also reports Alexander’s...