Talk:Riley Achilles/@comment-73.57.25.92-20180705205155/@comment-26709288-20180708232045

Some writers and philosophers at that time describe her as a "beautiful seductress" however they still said she could never surpass a woman like Octivia. However some people argue that by "beautiful seductress" they meant she was good at manipulation and getting people on her side and had little to do with beauty. I don't know where the sterotype or myth comes from honestly, maybe it's due to the "how she got in power" and people think that could only work if she was beautiful.

But what people use to say she's not beautiful is coins, and statues depicting her as sterotypically unattractive (messy hair, big nose, small eyes, short neck) you know, qualities that people typically describe as beautiful and these coins were in the "prime of her youth" as they are called.

However some may argue that these coins weren't accurate, because technology at that time wasn't the best, and for some reason, Romans and Egypitans loved to depict everyone with short braided hair, even Aphrodite and all the men and women statues are typically seen with this type of short braided hair.

Or this myth could all boil down to the fact that people are much more likely to enjoy love stories when the characters depicted are very attractive, which is why twilight, 50 shades of grey, and even harem animes are so popular.

I wish I could tell you where the myth came from, all I learned is that it's typically accepted that Cleopatra wasn't beautiful.