Note to Teachers of English (teachers of "language arts" stay away unless there was nothing you could do about it):

In assigning Enobarbus's speech describing Antony's first vision of Cleopatra to your students for dissection and discussion, you might wish to supply them with Shakespeare's source. That source is North's translation into English. in 1579, of Amyot's translation into French, in 1559, of Plutarch's Latin (oops! Thank you, Septimus, and thank you, Thomasina) original written in  -- oh, you've got me there -- well, a very long time ago:

"Therefore when she was sent unto by divers letters, both from Antonius himself and also from his friends, she made so light of it and mocked Antonius so much that she disdained to set forward otherwise but to take her barge in the river of Cydnus, the poop whereof was of gold, the sails of purple, and the oars of silver, which kept stroke in rowing after the sound of the music of flutes, howboys, cithernes, viols, and such other instruments as they played upon in the barge. And now for the person of herself: she was laid under a pavilion of cloth of gold of tissue, apparelled and attired like the goddess Venus commonly drawn in picture; and hard by her, on either hand of her, pretty fair boys apparelled as painters do set forth god Cupid, with little fans in their hands, with the which they fanned wind upon her. Her ladies and gentlewomen also, the fairest of them were apparelled like the nymphs Nereides (which are the mermaids of the waters) and like the Graces, some steering the helm, others tending the tackle and ropes of the barge, out of the which there came a wonderful passing sweet savour of perfumes, that perfumed the wharf's side, pestered with innumerable multitudes of people."

Plutarch, Life of Marcus Antonius (XXVI) (North trans.)