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Over at Word Wenches today, Susan Sarah asks, "What if we could not just read about, or act as, but actually BE our favorite historical person for a little while?"
Interesting question! She has some parameters:
What if you were shown an actual time machine -- one that works effortlessly, within the expanded laws of quantam physics -- and then told that you could step into this thing and program something specific in time, for as long or as brief a period as you like -- so that your conscious awareness would be projected and merged with that of any historical person you choose? If that were possible, what woman (or man) would you want to be? You have the ability to step into their shoes and their life, and you can duck out before things get sticky. And if you like, you can stay much longer, though knowing what we do about the denouement and demise some of our favorites, we might want to opt out.
For me, I think the answer is Cleopatra. She was so strong and intelligent, and the story of her accession to the throne and her scheming and fighting to keep Egypt out of the hands of the Roman empire is amazing. I have been fascinated with her for as long as I can remember. But, yeah, I'm bowing out before the whole suicide ordeal.
Another woman that I would like to step into the shoes of is Queen Hatshepsut, "regarded by Egyptologists as one of the most successful pharaohs, reigning longer than any other woman of an indigenous Egyptian dynasty". (Wikipedia)
If I thought about it a lot longer, I could probably come up with more. But these were the two that immediately popped into my head. What about you? Who in history would you like to be, if just for a little while?
11 comments:
I've been to that temple! Our tour guide told us one of the world's earliest jokes is inscribed on it, comparing the Ethiopian queen to a hippo. ;) (That's also, tragically, where an Islamist group opened fire in '97-we were there in '99 and security was much, much tighter.)
Hmmmm....I'm not sure there are any historical figures I'd like to be for awhile! I find it exhausting enough just to trying to live up to my responsibilities; I can't imagine what some of these people went through!
I'm not sure which historical figure I'd want to be. I'll have to think about that one! In the meantime, I left you something at my blog :o)
Eva ~ I would have been far to scared to go after that episode. You're a brave woman! That said, Egypt is the one place I really want to go someday, and I'm not a traveler at all.
I know what you mean about the historical figures. I also had some silly, petty musings. I caught myself thinking things like, "Wait! Maybe I should bail out before she has her kids. That's going to hurt a lot!" :-)
Terri ~ Thanks!!
Hmm...a good question. I'm not sure who I'd pick, but I think it'd be someone from a time period we don't know all that much about so I could satisfy my curiosity about how things really were back them. Maybe Celtic Britain, Babylonia, or the early Medieval age in some parts of Europe! This doesn't really answer the question, I know...sorry for the off topic rant :P
Cleopatra is a great choice!
Oh... Queen Hatshepsut is up there on my list. Then, maybe Thomas Jefferson. Or Ben Franklin.
I'm thinking Eleanor of Aquitaine, pre-locked-up-by-Henry-days, of course. ;)
Ooh, Cleopatra is a good one! Can I choose Audrey or Katharine Hepburn lol?
I'd like to be Sybilla Marshall, early in her marriage to John Marshall, to know and be personally involved with a man of such heroic integrity.
Hmmm... as long as it was temporary, perhaps Napoleon or Alexander the Great? Ultimate power....
I love reading these answers! And I think Audrey or Katherine Hepburn are good answers, Ladytink. It's interesting to see how many of you would choose to be a man for a while. I wonder if any men would choose to be a woman. Hmmmm. . .
Lezlie
Oh if I were to choose to be a man, I would want to be Walt Disney for a little while.
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