Deification of Julius Caesar explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Transformation and Metamorphosis

  Caesar's soul is transformed into a comet and he is deified, ascending to the heavens.

• Fate and Prophecy

  Jupiter reveals the unchangeable decrees of fate, foretelling Caesar's death and apotheosis, as well as Augustus's future reign.

• Divine Power and Human Folly

  Despite divine omens and Venus's pleas, human conspirators murder Caesar, showing the limits of divine intervention against fate.

Characters to notice

• Venus

  Venus, as Caesar's divine mother, pleads with the gods to save him and ultimately carries his soul to the stars.

• Jove

  Jupiter consoles Venus and reveals the unchangeable fate that Caesar will become a god and his heir Augustus will rule.

• Julius Caesar

  Julius Caesar is assassinated in the senate, but his soul is deified and transformed into a comet by Venus.

• Augustus

  Augustus is foretold as Caesar's heir, destined to bring peace and order to the Roman world.

• Aeneas

  Aeneas is referenced as the ancestor of Caesar and Augustus, linking the Julian line to Troy.

Key passages

• “He, goddess, for whose death the fates you blame, Has finish’d his determined course with fame: To thee ’tis given at length, that he shall shine Among the gods, and grace the worshipp’d shrine”

  The man whose death you lament has completed his fated path gloriously; you are granted that he will become a god and be honored in temples.

  Jupiter tells Venus that Caesar's death is fated but he will be deified.

• “Glowing with newborn fires she saw it rise; Forth springing from her bosom up it flew, And, kindling as it soar’d, a comet grew”

  Venus saw Caesar's soul rise from her embrace, glowing with new life, and as it ascended it ignited into a comet.

  The moment of Caesar's apotheosis, his soul becoming a celestial body.