Julius Caesar's Death Is A Sacrifice

In the beginning of the play we get an idea of what kind of character Julius Caesar is when a soothsayer warns him in the street of Rome “Beware the ides of March” (Act 1, Scene 2) and he simply dismisses what the man said, thinking it is not important. Julius Caesar often thinks of himself higher than everyone else as well as refers to himself in the third person. Caesar’s behavior bothers Cassius and many other noblemen as we learn throughout the first three Acts. Cassius begins to convince noblemen like Brutus (a very well respected person in public eye) that Caesar is not fit to rule Rome and must be dealt with. This leads Cassius, Brutus, and many others to carry out the assassination of Caesar. Since Caesar dies in Act 3 Scene 1, it raises the question, Is Caesar’s death a “sacrifice” or “butchery”? Caesar’s death is a sacrifice because Brutus tells his group, also known as “the Conspirators”, that they should be sacrificers and not …show more content…
Let’s be sacrificers, but not butchers, Caius. We all stand up against the spirit of Caesar. And in the spirit of men there is no blood. O, that we then could come by Caesar’s spirit and not dismember Caesar! But, alas, Caesar must bleed for it. And, gentle friends kill him boldly, but not wrathfully. Let’s carve him as a dish fit for the gods, not hew him as a carcass fit for hounds.” (Act 2, Scene 1, Lines 175-196)
Brutus does not want to kill Antony because he views him only as one of Caesar’s limbs. “And for Mark Antony, think not of him, for he can do no more that Caesar’s arm when Caesar’s head if off.” (Lines 194-196) He also does not want to kill Antony because that would make them “butchers”. They are sacrificing Caesar for the sake of Rome and the betterment of the future. Brutus says on line 193 “We shall be called purgers, not