Sunday, December 25, 2016

How do Antony and Octavius treat Brutus's body in Julius Caesar?

When the victorious Antony and Octavius view Brutus's dead body on the battlefield at Philippi, they both speak of him with praise and respect. Marc Antony says,


This was the noblest Roman of them all.All the conspirators, save only he,Did that they did in envy of great Caesar;He only, in a general honest thoughtAnd common good to all, made one of them.


Antony previously accused the conspirators of being primarily motivated...

When the victorious Antony and Octavius view Brutus's dead body on the battlefield at Philippi, they both speak of him with praise and respect. Marc Antony says,



This was the noblest Roman of them all.
All the conspirators, save only he,
Did that they did in envy of great Caesar;
He only, in a general honest thought
And common good to all, made one of them.



Antony previously accused the conspirators of being primarily motivated by envy in his funeral oration. Envy has been defined as "the resentment which occurs when a person lacks another's superior quality, achievement, or possession and either desires it or wishes that the other lacked it" (Parrott). Julius Caesar aroused this painful emotion in other men because he was superior to them in many ways. Aristotle defines envy as "the pain caused by the good fortune of others." Brutus, according to Shakespeare's Marc Antony, was the only conspirator who was motivated by patriotism instead of envy.


Octavius concurs with Antony and even goes so far as to have Brutus's body kept overnight in his own tent.



According to his virtue let us use him,
With all respect and rites of burial.
Within my tent his bones to-night shall lie,
Most like a soldier, order'd honourably.


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