Asterix and Cleopatra

For the film, see Asterix and Cleopatra (film).

Asterix and Cleopatra (Astérix et Cléopâtre)
Cover of the English edition
Date	1969
Main characters	Asterix and Obelix
Series	Asterix
Publisher	Dargaud
Creative team
Writers	René Goscinny
Artists	Albert Uderzo
Original publication
Published in	Pilote magazine
Issues	215–257
Date of publication	1963
Language	French
Translation
Translator	Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge
Chronology
Preceded by	Asterix and the Banquet
Followed by	Asterix and the Big Fight

Asterix and Cleopatra (French: Astérix et Cléopâtre) is a French comic book story, written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo, and published by Dargaud. It is the sixth story in the Asterix comic book series, and was originally published as a serial for Pilote magazine in 1963. The story focuses on Asterix and Obelix accompanying their village's druid, in order to help an artitect with a major construction project that will allow Cleopatra to win a bet against Julius Caesar.

The comic received two film adaptations: an animated film in 1968 film; and a Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra in 2002, along with being published as an audiobook.

Plot Summary

In ,Egypt, Julius Caesar belittles the Egyptians as no longer being a great civilisation. Infuriated, their queen, Cleopatra of the greek,Ptolemaic Kingdom, makes a wager with him that she can prove they are still great by having a grand palace constructed in Alexandria 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 under threat he will be fed to the sacred crocodiles of the Nile. Concerned he will fail the task, Edifis decides to travel to Armorica in Gaul, in order to request aid from the druid Getafix and the magic potion he brews that gives superhuman strength to his village.

Hearing his request, Getafix agrees to help, and travels to Egypt, accompanied by Asterix and Obelix, and their new companion Dogmatix. Upon inspecting the building plans, the Gauls encounter Artifis, a rival of Edifis, who offers to aid them. After Edifis refuses, claiming his rival overworks his labourer, Artifis attempts to sabotage the palace's constructon, only for the Gauls to undo his actions thanks to the magic potion. Infuriated by their actions, he then attempts to get rid of them by having a henchman trap them within a pyramid, only for Dogmatix to help them escape. Learning of this, Artifis then has his henchman bring a cake to Cleopatra under the guise of being sent by the Gauls, which her taster soon finds to contain poison. Upon being accused of trying to kill her, Getafix gives his friends an antidote to the poison so to claim the cake is safe, while curing the taster of his condition, claiming they were suffering from indigestion.

When the Gauls return to the building site following this incident, they soon discover Edifis has been kidnapped, and rescue him from the basement of Artifis' home. To prevent further trouble, the Gauls punish Artifis and his henchmen by having them help with the palace's construction, but without any magic potion. Progress on the palace soon proceeds smoothly, yet Caesar soon begins to worry about losing his wager with Cleopatra. Assigning a spy to investigate, named Mintjulep, he is shocked when he learns the Gauls and their magic potion are helping the Egyptians, and so orders several of his Roman legions to arrest the Gauls. This results in the construction site being beseiged by the Romans, forcing Asterix and Obelix to defend their positions. When the Romans begin using catapults to shell the site, Asterix and Dogmatix swiftly deliver news of the situation to Cleopatra, who furiously hurries to put a stop to the assult.

Caesar finds himself shamed by Cleopatra, who calls him out for acting dishonourably with their wager. To make amends, he promptly agrees to have his legions repair the damage they caused to the palace. Construction is completed before the deadline in the wager, 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 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.

Adaptations

Asterix and Cleopatra has been adapted for film twice: first as an animated 1968 film entitled Asterix and Cleopatra, and then as a live-action 2002 film called Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra.

An audiobook of Asterix and Cleopatra adapted by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge and narrated by Willie Rushton was released on Hodder and Stoughton's Hodder Children's Audio.

Relationship to other Asterix books

Obelix's dog, Dogmatix (Idéfix in the original French), is named for the first time in this story. It is also the first story in which Dogmatix takes a significant role (rescuing the heroes from a maze inside a Pyramid).

In most Asterix books, Obelix is not permitted to drink the Magic Potion, because he fell into a cauldron of Magic Potion in his childhood, resulting in a permanent effect, and Getafix fears that giving Obelix any more potion would have an unpredictable effect on him. However, in this book Getafix makes an exception due to an extraordinary requirement (the need to force open a solid stone door inside a pyramid which apparently even Obelix's regular level of strength is incapable of doing). Obelix notices no difference, but keeps asking for more potion in subsequent volumes.

The recurring pirate characters appear in this book, though on this occasion they sink their own ship rather than endure a fight with the Gauls. The captain's son Erix (seen in the previous book Asterix and the Banquet) is mentioned as having been left as a deposit to pay for the short-lived ship. After he and his crew have been forced to take jobs as galley slaves on Cleopatra's barge, the captain expresses the unusual determination to wreak revenge on the Gauls—in other books, he simply wishes never to encounter them again.

External links

• Asterix and Cleopatra Official English Website