This is a 7-hour module on how beliefs, expectations, and stereotypes about gender affect both Plutarch's presentation of Mark Antony's career/character, and his characterization of the powerful women in Antony's life. We will consider the construction of both femininity and masculinity, in Antony, Fulvia, Octavia, and Cleopatra, and how gender presentation negatively and positively affects the leadership abilities and achievements of the subjects of the Life. As the current presidential election cycle has made crystal clear, the ways in which we evaluate the actions, achievements, and character of a leader is often dependent -- consciously or not -- on a leader's gender. The Life of Antony allows us to examine some of those gender dynamics in the context of ancient political biography. The following questions should be discussed and reflected upon in the course of the module:

• In what ways in Antony a "man's man"? In what ways is he depicted as effeminate? When Plutarch describes him in one way or the other, how do the actions he takes in the immediate context turn out?
• How does Plutarch map Antony's gender onto the following dichotomies: East-West, Greek-Roman, Reason-Passion?
• How do Antony's mythological role models, Heracles and Dionysus, factor into Plutarch's construction of Antony's gender presentation and his abilities as a leader?

• What goals and/or motivations does Plutarch attribute to the women in Antony's life?
• By what means do these women obtain, maintain, and use their power? Are some means coded as more masculine or more feminine than others? 
• In what ways do these women appear masculine? How do their masculine traits/actions affect Antony? How are they evaluated by Plutarch?
• Map out the qualities, motivations, and actions Plutarch attributes to Octavia and Cleopatra. How different are they, really? Why do they receive such different treatment?
• By what standards does Plutarch judge these women as successful or praiseworthy? Does he evaluate them on their own terms, or only in terms of how they affect Antony's ability to lead? 

• Who in the Life of Antony is most successful at "? Cf. Kelly Dittmar on the 2016
• If we consider Antony alongside Fulvia, Octavia, and Cleopatra, can we construct a list of positive or negative qualities of leaders that applies to any individual, regardless of gender?