Introduction
There are many omens, superstitions, and religious beliefs in the play Julius Caesar. Omens are events regarded as a portent of good or evil. They can be interpreted in a good way or in a bad way, and the play portrays this a lot. Superstitions are excessively credulous beliefs in and reverence for supernatural beings. The people in the play are extremely superstitious and based their lives off of them. Religious beliefs are the beliefs in the reality of the mythological, supernatural, or spiritual aspects of a religion.
Task
GRAB A PARTNER! :) The task you will be completeing isn't complicated if you know what you're doing. In the play when Calpurnia dreamt that the Romans were washing their hands in the blood of Caesar's statue, she interpreted it as the death of Caesar. Decius, however, convinces Julius that it is a good thing and that it means that Caesar will be Rome's savior. This part of the play is an omen, and a rather important one also. Your task is to come up with your very own thought out omen and superstition. Each omen and superstition has to be at least a paragraph long. No shorter than that. Also, you must apply a picture to go with both omen and superstition. GOOD LUCK!
Process
Use these websites to help you think about a good quality omen and superstition and to answer the following questions.
http://www.shmoop.com/julius-caesar/omens-symbol.html
http://juliuscaesarplaysupernatural.blogspot.com/
http://www.roman-empire.net/religion/superstitions.html
http://www.richeast.org/htwm/greeks/romans/bass/index.html
http://www.the-romans.co.uk/omens.htm
Questions:
1. How are the omens in Julius Caesar important?
2. Explain one of the omens in your own words.
3. Why do you think they were so superstitious in the play?
4. Name any superstition that comes to mind.
5. What is a religious belief in your own words?
6. What did Calpurnia tell Caesar from her dream?
7. Name one religious belief from the play.
8. It was said that if a woman who might be infertile, and was touched with leather straps, would be cured of the infertility. This is a what?
9. What does the soothsayer tell Caesar to beware of?
10. How does Decius portray Calpurnia's dream?
Evaluation
| Omen Content | Superstition Content | Religious Belief Content | Total |
| /10 | /10 | /10 | /30 |
Conclusion
In conclusion, now you should know what all three of these subjects mean. They are all used throughout the play Julius Caesar and, in my opinion, make you stop and think about how life was in Rome long ago. Congradulations you made it!
Credits
Webquest- Lacey Johnson and Shelby Bennett
Julius Caesar the play