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What is brutus oration?

Updated: 10/26/2022
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Romans, countrymen, and lovers! hear me for my

cause, and be silent, that you may hear: believe me

for mine honour, and have respect to mine honour, that

you may believe: censure me in your wisdom, and

awake your senses, that you may the better judge.

If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of

Caesar's, to him I say, that Brutus' love to Caesar

was no less than his. If then that friend demand

why Brutus rose against Caesar, this is my answer:-

Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved

Rome more. Had you rather Caesar were living and

die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live

all free men? As Caesar loved me, I weep for him;

as he was fortunate, I rejoice at it; as he was

valiant, I honour him: but, as he was ambitious, I

slew him. There is tears for his love; joy for his

fortune; honour for his valour; and death for his

ambition. Who is here so base that would be a

bondman? If any, speak; for him have I offended.

Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If

any, speak; for him have I offended. Who is here so

vile that will not love his country? If any, speak;

for him have I offended. I pause for a reply.

For sheer eloquence, for oratory on the grandest scale, Act III of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is hard to match. This particular speech comes sandwiched between Antony's 'bleeding piece of earth' speech and the magnificient "Friends, Romans, Countrymen' oration. But there are other fine speeches here - in fact the entire act has this declamatory quality, as though the speakers, being greater than mortal men, spoke a language higher than that of the common tongue.

Because it is so swiftly outdone by Antony's, Brutus's speech at Caesar's funeral is, I feel, somewhat underrated. It is a marvellous speech, starting off with an appeal to reason and order, but ending on an exhortative, almost indignant note, and playing on the Roman people's regard for their civic freedoms. The only flaw in it, is that Brutus simply asserts that Caesar was ambitious without ever offering any evidence of this, and it is this weakness that Antony exploits to full advantage in his oration.

That said, a large part of the glory of Antony's speech comes from the fact that it must successfully follow this one. Brutus is more than a worthy opponent for Antony to be taking on, and Antony has the incredibly difficult task of changing the mind of a crowd that has been soundly convinced by Brutus's speech before him. Watching him pull that off is like watching a great tennis player come back with a stunning response to an almost impossible smash.

As someone who's always loved debating, and who spent long years in college on the debating circuit, I've always loved this interplay of arguments - it's always represented to me a magnificent and sublime ideal of what a great debate should be like. This speech, and the one that follows it, is part of the reason I became a debater.

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How does Antony repeatedly refer to brutus during the funeral oration?

During Caesar's funeral, Antony refers to Brutus as an honorable man. This is said sarcastically as Brutus was a traitor to Caesar.


Who said Brutus is an honorable man?

Antony, in his funeral oration for Caesar, repeated the phrase, "Brutus said he (meaning Caesar) was ambitious and Brutus is an honorable man," in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.


How does Antony repeatedly refer to britus during the funeral oration?

He refers to Brutus as a "honorable man" and also refers to the rest of the conspirators as 'honorable men'.


Why is Anthony's funeral oration better than Brutus's funeral oration?

Antony was appealing to the emotions of the mob; Brutus was appealing to their intelligence. Antony knew that the kind of rabble-rousing he had in mind would be effective in making them do crazy things (like killing Cinna the poet), and allowing him to eventually become dictator. Politically, it works; it succeeded in doing all that Antony wanted. But does that make it better? Brutus's argument was more intellectually satisfying, more grounded in morality and good governance. It was less effective but more right.


What hard decisions did brutus make?

i think that brutus was a good person i think the bad thing brutus did was he tried to kill everyone i think the bad thing brutus did was he tried to kill everyone I think this answer is not sufficient. The first mistake committed by Caesar is that he allowed Mark Antony to deliver the oration in the pulpit. The second mistake is that he spoke in a way that was non-influential whereas his counterpart, Antony appealed to the emotions of the people.


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What word in Antony's funeral oration is ironically used over and over?

The word "honorable" is used ironically by Antony in his funeral oration for Julius Caesar. He repeatedly refers to the conspirators as "honorable men" while subtly undermining their actions and motives, ultimately inciting the crowd against them.


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I would like to oration you coz I want to find out more about you.