''Asterix and Cleopatra'' (') is a French comic book story, written by

René Goscinny René Goscinny (; ; 14 August 1926 – 5 November 1977) was a French comic editor and writer, who created the ''Asterix, Astérix'' comic book series with illustrator Albert Uderzo. Born in France to a Jewish family from Poland, he spent his chil ...

and illustrated by

Albert Uderzo Alberto Aleandro Uderzo (; 25 April 1927 – 24 March 2020), better known as Albert Uderzo (), was a French comic book artist and scriptwriter. He is best known as the co-creator and illustrator of the '' Astérix'' series in collaboration wit ...

. It is the sixth story in the ''

Asterix ''Asterix'' ( or , "Asterix the Gauls, Gaul"; also known as ''Asterix and Obelix'' in some adaptations or ''The Adventures of Asterix'') is a Franco-Belgian comics, French comic album book series, series about a Gaulish village which, thanks ...

comic book series a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

, and was originally published by

Dargaud Société Dargaud (), doing business as Les Éditions Dargaud, is a publisher of Franco-Belgian comics series, headquartered in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. It was founded in 1936 by Georges Dargaud, publishing its first comics in 1943. ...

as a serial for ''

Pilote ''Pilote'' (), for a while subtitled ''the magazine of Asterix and Obelix'' (French: ''Le Journal D’Astérix et D’Obélix'' ) was a French comics magazine published from 1959 to 1989. Showcasing most of the major Franco-Belgian comics, French ...

'' magazine in 1963, before later being released as a comic album in 1965. The story focuses on Asterix and Obelix accompanying their village's druid, Getafix, to Ancient Egypt, in order to help an architect friend of his complete a major construction project that will allow

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator (; The name Cleopatra is pronounced , or sometimes in both British and American English, see and respectively. Her name was pronounced in the Greek dialect of Egypt (see Koine Greek phonology). She was ...

to win a bet against

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

. The comic received two film adaptations - an

animated film Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...

of the same name in 1968, and a

live-action film Live action is a form of cinematography or videography that uses photography instead of animation. Some works combine live action with animation to create a Live-action animation, live-action animated feature film. Live action is used to define ...

, '' Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra'', in 2002. An audiobook adaptation was also published by Hodder and Stoughton.

Plot Summary

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

belittles the

Egyptians Egyptians (, ; , ; ) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian identity is closely tied to Geography of Egypt, geography. The population is concentrated in the Nile Valley, a small strip of cultivable land stretchi ...

for being no longer a great civilisation compared to the

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

s. Infuriated to hear this,

, queen of the

Ptolemaic Kingdom The Ptolemaic Kingdom (; , ) or Ptolemaic Empire was an ancient Greek polity based in Ancient Egypt, Egypt during the Hellenistic period. It was founded in 305 BC by the Ancient Macedonians, Macedonian Greek general Ptolemy I Soter, a Diadochi, ...

, makes a wager with him that she can prove that they are still great by having a grand palace constructed in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

within three months. Caesar naturally accepts the wager. To handle the construction project, Cleopatra assigns Edifis, a man who claims to be the best architect in her kingdom, to build the palace, promising to reward him greatly with gold, but warns he will be fed to the sacred crocodiles of the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

if he fails. Concerned with the task he has been given, Edifis decides to travel to

Gaul Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...

, in order to request aid from his old friend Getafix, a druid who supplies his village with a magic potion that gives them superhuman strength to resist the Romans. Getafix agrees to help, and travels back with Edifis to Egypt, accompanied by

, Obelix, and

Dogmatix Dogmatix ( ; ) is a fictional white terrier dog who is a companion to Obelix in the ''Asterix'' comics. ''Dogmatix'' is a pun on the words '' dog'' and '' dogmatic''. In the original French, his name is a pun on the expression '' idée fixe'' ...

- Obelix's new pet dog. As they begin to help with construction, Edifis flatly refuses the assistance of his rival, Artifis, over their work ethics. Angered by this, Artifis attempts to sabotage the palace's construction, but is thwarted by the Gauls. Infuriated by this, he assigns a henchman, Krukhut, to have Asterix and his friends trapped within a pyramid, only to be shocked when he learns they escaped - thanks to Dogmatix. To be rid of them, Artifis attempts to frame them by sending a poisoned cake to Cleopatra, who promptly accuses the Gauls of trying to kill her. Seeking to prove their innocence, Getafix makes out the cake is safe to eat - through the use of a potion the group secretly use - while claiming her food taster, who was poisoned by the cake, is suffering indigestion from the rich food he tastes. After being released, the Gauls find Edifis missing from the construction site, and suspect Artifis of kidnapping him. Asterix and Obelix promptly raid his home, where his henchman panics and reveals the missing architect was imprisoned in the basement. As punishment for their actions, the Gauls make Artifis and his henchman help with construction, but without the aid of the magic potion. As construction nears completion, Caesar becomes suspicious over the Egyptian's speed and assigns an Egyptian spy, Mintjulep, to investigate. When he returns, Mintjulep explains about the presence of the Gauls and their magic potion, which prompts Caesar to order several of his legions to assault the construction site and capture them. Despite defending against the attack, Asterix and Dogmatix find themselves forced to deliver news of the attack to Cleopatra, when the Romans use

catapult A catapult is a ballistics, ballistic device used to launch a projectile at a great distance without the aid of gunpowder or other propellants – particularly various types of ancient and medieval siege engines. A catapult uses the sudden rel ...

s to shell the building site. Caesar finds himself shamed by Cleopatra, who calls him out for acting dishonourably with their wager, upon visiting the site in haste. To make amends with her, he promptly has his legions repair the damage they caused to the palace. Construction is eventually completed on time, much to Cleopatra's delight, allowing Edifis to be rewarded with gold; he and Artifis also reconcile their differences and agree to work together on future projects. Delighted that Caesar honoured the conditions of their wager, Cleopatra thanks the Gauls, gifting Getafix with several papyrus manuscripts from the

Library of Alexandria The Great Library of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt, was one of the largest and most significant libraries of the ancient world. The library was part of a larger research institution called the Mouseion, which was dedicated to the Muses, ...

. The group soon return home to Gaul, where Obelix attempts to give his menhirs an Egyptian obelisk look, only to be criticised by Chief Vitalstatistix for doing so.

Characters

– Gaulish warrior, and the main protagonist of the story. * Obelix – Gaulish

menhir A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the European middle Br ...

delivery man and warrior, and a close friend of Asterix. The story fleshed out the character with some background surrounding the circumstances to his permanent superhuman strength which would go on to be a second recurring gag in later stories. *

– Obelix's pet dog, who is loyal to him and Asterix. * Getafix – Gaulish druid, responsible for the superhuman magic potion his village uses. *

– Leader of the Roman Empire (based upon the

historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

version of the real-life Roman figure). *

– Queen of the Egyptians of the

(based upon the

version of the real-life Ancient Egyptian queen). * Edifis – An Egyptian architect and close friend of Getafix, who constructs buildings in which some still remain standing. * Artifis – An Egyptian architect, formerly a friend of Edifis who is now his rival, due to his work ethics with labourers. * Mintjulep – An Egyptian spy who serves the Romans. * The Pirates – A group of pirates led by Captain Redbeard, who often suffer bad luck with the Gauls.

Adaptations

''Asterix and Cleopatra'' has received two film adaptations after its publication: * In 1968, an animated film of the same name was released by

. Work on the animation process was overseen by Goscinny and Uderzo, who sought to produce a better quality film following the company's first film adaptation of the ''

'' series. The animated film's French cast included Roger Carel and Jacques Morel, while its English cast included Lee Payant and Hal Brav. * In 2002, a live-action adaptation of the comic was produced, '' Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra''. Produced by

TF1 Films Production TF1 Group () is a French media holding company. Its best-known property is the broadcast network TF1. The group was formed after TF1 was privatized in April 1987 in which the channel was launched back on January 6 1975 twelve years prior. It is ...

at great expense, it starred Christian Clavier and Gérard Depardieu, and proved to be a huge box success in France. An

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sch ...

adaptation of ''Asterix and Cleopatra'' was created by

Anthea Bell Anthea Bell (10 May 1936 – 18 October 2018) was an English translator of literary works, including children's literature, from French, German and Danish language, Danish. These include ''The Castle (novel), The Castle'' by Franz Kafka, ''Aus ...

and Derek Hockridge. The story was narrated by

Willie Rushton William George Rushton (18 August 1937 – 11 December 1996) was an English cartoonist, comedian actor and satirist who co-founded the satirical magazine ''Private Eye''. Early life Rushton was born 18 August 1937 at 3 Wilbraham Place, Chelsea, ...

, and was released on Hodder and Stoughton's ''Hodder Children's Audio''.

References

External links

Asterix and Cleopatra
Official English Website {{Asterix, Cleopatra, Asterix and, type=book Cleopatra, Asterix and Depictions of Cleopatra in comics Depictions of Julius Caesar in comics Ancient Alexandria in art and culture Comics set in deserts Comics set in Egypt Works originally published in Pilote Literature first published in serial form 1963 graphic novels Works by René Goscinny Comics by Albert Uderzo Comics based on real people Works set in Roman Egypt