Abstract
Creative but thorough examination of the life of Berenice I, a Macedonian princess who married Ptolemy I, the first king of Egypt after the conquest of Alexander the Great. The paper also describes aspects of royal women's lives in the Hellenistic period and includes excerpts from Egyptian and Greek love poetry. Told in first person from the perspective of Berenice.

From the Paper
"Homage to thee, Osiris, Lord of eternity, King of the Gods, whose names are manifold, whose forms are holy? Now, mortal, you read the unsung story of your queen, Berenice, who left your world to join the host of gods. I who am called Berenice-Isis mother of Ptolemy, Berenice-Aphrodite, and Berenice Soter rule now among the ranks of Ra Harmakhis; Nut, the Lady of Heaven; and Hathor, Lady of Amentet. Hear now how the great Ptolemy Soter took me for his true, beloved wife. Hear now how I established the court of Ptolemaic Egypt and produced a line of rulers unchallenged through generations until the next great conquest of Egypt by the long-destined Romans."

Tags:egypt, hellenistic, ptolemies, royalty

Abstract
The paper relates that there are no real events in Shakespeare's "Much Ado about Nothing", or any real action; nothing happened in the play although many tragic things might have. The paper shows how the play can be considered tragic because the characters simulate and dissimulate, manufacture plots out of "nothing" and play with reality in a dangerous way that could have serious consequences for everyone.

From the Paper
"Shakespeare's play Much Ado about Nothing effectively combines the comic and tragic elements in its structure. The title is the point where the reading should begin: Shakespeare himself indicates that the play is about "nothing", that is, there are no real events in the text, no real action, only deceiving and misprision. The plot focuses on the two couples that are the main protagonists: Berenice and Benedick, Hero and Claudio. The dissembling, deceiving and misprisions in the play seem endless and are directly related to the tragic undertones of the text."

Tags:Berenice, Benedick, Hero, Claudio, pretense, deceit