# Asterix and Cleopatra

Asterix and Cleopatra (French: Astérix et Cléopâtre) is a French comic book story, written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo. It is the sixth story in the Asterix comic book series, and was originally published by Dargaud as a serial for Pilote 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 to win a bet against Julius Caesar.
The comic received two film adaptations - an animated film of the same name in 1968, and a live-action film, Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra, in 2002. An audiobook adaptation was also published by Hodder and Stoughton.

## Plot Summary

In Egypt, Julius Caesar belittles the Egyptians for being no longer a great civilisation compared to the Romans. Infuriated to hear this, Cleopatra, queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, makes a wager with him that she can prove that 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, but warns he will be fed to the sacred crocodiles of the Nile if he fails. Concerned with the task he has been given, Edifis decides to travel to Gaul, 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 Asterix, Obelix, and Dogmatix - 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 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 catapults 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 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

* Asterix – Gaulish warrior, and the main protagonist of the story.
* Obelix – Gaulish menhir 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.
* Dogmatix – Obelix's pet dog, who is loyal to him and Asterix.
* Getafix – Gaulish druid, responsible for the superhuman magic potion his village uses.
* Julius Caesar – Leader of the Roman Empire (based upon the historical version of the real-life Roman figure).
* Cleopatra – Queen of the Egyptians of the Ptolemaic Kingdom (based upon the historical 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 Dargaud. 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 Asterix 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 at great expense, it starred Christian Clavier and Gérard Depardieu, and proved to be a huge box success in France.
An audiobook adaptation of Asterix and Cleopatra was created by Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge. The story was narrated by Willie Rushton, and was released on Hodder and Stoughton's Hodder Children's Audio.