Deification Of Caesar
Deification of Caesar
Transformation, the subject of the poet’s work
The transformation of Caesar into a divine being:
Caesar’s Comet during Games of July 44 BCE in honor of Caesar’s victories
Ovid, Metamorphoses:
“And Venus . . . raised from the body of Caesar the fleeting spirit,
Not to be lost in air, but borne aloft
To the bright stars of Heaven. As she bore it,
She felt it burn, released it from her bosom,
And saw it rise, beyond the moon, a comet
Rising, not falling, leaving the long fire
Behind its waake, and gleaming as a star.”
Caesar’s comet’s unusual trajectory
Caesar, a Roman God:
No Greek transplant
A composite of Greek and Roman elements:
Greek:
Euhemerism
Greek cult of heroes
Cult of Alexander the Great
Roman:
List of Accomplishments (Lat. Res Gestae = things done);
Caesar’s extraordinary achievements (conquests of Britain, Egypt, Caucasus, North Africa and more)
Caesar’s deeds imitated and surpassed by Octavian Augustus:
Intergenerational competition in Roman aristocratic families
Roman “myth-making:” Caesar, Aeneas, Romulus
Rome’s imperial mission, divine mandate
Dynastic politcs: legitimizing Augustus as Divi Filius (son of a god)
Caesar recognizes his “son’s” (Augustus) deeds to be superior to his own
Augustus, however, refuses to be set above his “father”
Fame will favor Augustus
Caesar’s divine status foreshadows Augustus’ own:
“. . . O gods,
. . .
Far be the day,
Later than our own era, when Augustus
Shall leave the world he rules, ascend to Heaven,
And there, beyond our presence, hear our prayers!”
Roman cultural elements at work here:
Aemulatio (competition, imitation): every generation must strive to be equal to the ancestors, or better (see Hesiod’s “good” Eris)
Pietas (dutiful respect for country, gods, family): Augustus ‘ duty toward Caesar:
A) Octavian “avenges” Caesar’s murder = Civil War (against Brutus + Cassius) recycled as model of dutifulness (Pietas);
B)
Transformation, the subject of the poet’s work
The transformation of Caesar into a divine being:
Caesar’s Comet during Games of July 44 BCE in honor of Caesar’s victories
Ovid, Metamorphoses:
“And Venus . . . raised from the body of Caesar the fleeting spirit,
Not to be lost in air, but borne aloft
To the bright stars of Heaven. As she bore it,
She felt it burn, released it from her bosom,
And saw it rise, beyond the moon, a comet
Rising, not falling, leaving the long fire
Behind its waake, and gleaming as a star.”
Caesar’s comet’s unusual trajectory
Caesar, a Roman God:
No Greek transplant
A composite of Greek and Roman elements:
Greek:
Euhemerism
Greek cult of heroes
Cult of Alexander the Great
Roman:
List of Accomplishments (Lat. Res Gestae = things done);
Caesar’s extraordinary achievements (conquests of Britain, Egypt, Caucasus, North Africa and more)
Caesar’s deeds imitated and surpassed by Octavian Augustus:
Intergenerational competition in Roman aristocratic families
Roman “myth-making:” Caesar, Aeneas, Romulus
Rome’s imperial mission, divine mandate
Dynastic politcs: legitimizing Augustus as Divi Filius (son of a god)
Caesar recognizes his “son’s” (Augustus) deeds to be superior to his own
Augustus, however, refuses to be set above his “father”
Fame will favor Augustus
Caesar’s divine status foreshadows Augustus’ own:
“. . . O gods,
. . .
Far be the day,
Later than our own era, when Augustus
Shall leave the world he rules, ascend to Heaven,
And there, beyond our presence, hear our prayers!”
Roman cultural elements at work here:
Aemulatio (competition, imitation): every generation must strive to be equal to the ancestors, or better (see Hesiod’s “good” Eris)
Pietas (dutiful respect for country, gods, family): Augustus ‘ duty toward Caesar:
A) Octavian “avenges” Caesar’s murder = Civil War (against Brutus + Cassius) recycled as model of dutifulness (Pietas);
B)