What is the role of the soothsayer?
The soothsayer, or fortune teller, in Julius Caesar only has nine lines in the play, yet he has an important role. He warns Julius Caesar to ‘Beware the Ides of March’. The Ides of March refers to March 15, the day Julius Caesar was assassinated. Shakespeare’s audience would have been familiar with this date.Click to…
The soothsayer, or fortune teller, in Julius Caesar only has nine lines in the play, yet he has an important role. He warns Julius Caesar to ‘Beware the Ides of March’. The Ides of March refers to March 15, the day Julius Caesar was assassinated. Shakespeare’s audience would have been familiar with this date.Click to see full answer. Correspondingly, what warning does the soothsayer give?The soothsayer warns Caesar to beware the Ides of March, and Caesar ignores the warning. The soothsayer supposedly knew that Caesar was in danger around February, 44 B.C. and made it his mission to warn him.Similarly, how many times does the soothsayer warn Caesar? In Act I Scene 2, the soothsayer says only one short line to Caesar, but he says it twice. The line is the famous saying, “Beware the Ides of March” (line 20). Correspondingly, what is a soothsayer in ancient Rome? Soothsayers were a class of ancient Roman minor priests. Also called a haruspex, they were trained to practice haruspicy. In laymen’s terms, this means he could read the guts of sacrificed animals to predict the future.What does Caesar’s reaction to the soothsayer tell you about his character?Taunting the soothsayer, Caesar goes by him and states: The Ides of March are here. Essentially he was letting the soothsayer know that he did not believe him because it is now March 15th, and nothing has happened to him. In fact, this might be the greatest day of Caesar’s life.
