Why did Macbeth called bellona's bridegroom?

Answer 1

'Bellona's bridegroom', despite what other people will try to tell you, does not refer to Macbeth. Here is why: There are two battles going on in Scotland at the beginning of the play: one at Forres in the north and another at Fife in the south, about 140 miles away. King Duncan in Act 1 Scene 2 is at Forres and hears the report of the bloody sergeant that the two captains, Macbeth and Banquo, have beaten off an attack by the traitor Macdonweald and then, when victory seemed secure, they had to beat off a second attack by "the Norweyan lord." This has just happened; the sergeant is still bleeding; Macbeth has been fighting at Forres for hours and hours. No sooner has the sergeant finished his tale when up rides the Thane of Ross, who has just come from Fife where he witnessed a different battle between the Scottish forces and the King of Norway's army, aided by the traitorous Thane of Cawdor. This battle has been won by a captain Ross calls "Bellona's bridegroom" (Bellona is the goddess of war and her bridegroom would be a lover of war) but does not name. Could this be Macbeth? No, for two reasons. First, he would have had to fight a pitched battle at Fife then ride to Forres, a fourteen hour ride, faster than any known horse could ride, to fight a second battle the same day and have energy enough to win it not once but twice. It asks an impossible feat of both man and horse. What is more, Bellona's bridegroom faced Norway and Cawdor "point against point rebellious, arm 'gainst arm" and must have known as well as Ross does the identity of the traitor he was fighting and that, at the end of the battle, he was captured. But Macbeth knows nothing about Cawdor's treachery. Both to the witches and later to Ross himself he protests that he cannot be the Thane of Cawdor because "the Thane of Cawdor lives, a prosperous gentleman" Suggesting that it was Macbeth that defeated Cawdor makes this line ridiculous: is it plausible that Macbeth should say "the Thane of Cawdor, who I defeated in battle earlier today and saw captured as a traitor, lives, a prosperous gentleman." No. Macbeth cannot be Bellona's bridegroom.