Caesar

Caesar's death in the HBO series Rome


The account of the deah of Julius Caesar and the rise of Augustus was one of my favorite stories of the Metamorphoses. Thus far, we have read many, many stories but all of them have been about fictional or supernatural beings. It was a intersting change of pace to read a story we know to be real and historical and have it placed in this context.

I especially love the lines "Though the gods/ had sent these omens, that was not enough/ to curb the course of fate and human plots" It goes back to the divine vs. man conflict shown in Antigone yet manages to show it in an entirely different way. Here, rather than show that the gods are supreme beings and all happens according to their wishes, it shows them as almost less than divine, for the events that befell Caesar were not to ethir liking and tried to show it. Yet for all their omens and communcation they were no match for the free will of mankind.