Question

How do the moral dilemmas of Volumnius and Strato compare?

They both have to decide whether to celebrate victory.
They both have to decide whether to fight Brutus.
They both have to decide whether to help Brutus blank himself.
They both have to decide whether to help Brutus escape.

Answer 1

Short answer: only one of those dilemmas is shared — the others are not.

Brief comparison (Julius Caesar, Act V):
- Celebrate victory: Neither man really faces a choice about celebrating. Both are Brutus’s attendants caught up in the defeat and Brutus’s decision to die, not in rejoicing over a triumph.
- Fight Brutus: They are not asked to fight Brutus as an opponent; both remain his followers. So they do not have to decide to oppose him in battle.
- Help Brutus [kill] himself: This is the key moral divergence. Volumnius refuses to assist Brutus in killing himself; Strato agrees to help by holding the sword for Brutus to run on. In other words, only Strato accepts that commission.
- Help Brutus escape: Neither helps Brutus flee. Brutus chooses death rather than capture, and his attendants do not enable an escape.

So the crucial moral dilemma that distinguishes them is whether to help Brutus die: Volumnius refuses on moral/loyal grounds; Strato consents out of loyalty/compassion.