Asked by p

Read the excerpt from act 5, scene 1, of Julius Caesar.

CASSIUS. Messala.

MESSALA, standing forth. What says my general?

CASSIUS. Messala,
This is my birthday; as this very day
Was Cassius born. Give me thy hand, Messala.
Be thou my witness that, against my will,
As Pompey was, am I compelled to set
Upon one battle all our liberties.
You know that I held Epicurus strong
And his opinion. Now I change my mind,
And partly credit things that do presage.
Coming from Sardis, on our former ensign
Two mighty eagles fell, and there they perched,
Gorging and feeding from our soldiers’ hands;
Who to Philippi here consorted us.
This morning are they fled away and gone,
And in their steads do ravens, crows, and kites
Fly o’er our heads and downward look on us,
As we were sickly prey. Their shadows seem
A canopy most fatal, under which
Our army lies ready to give up the ghost.

MESSALA. Believe not so.

CASSIUS. I but believe it partly;
For I am fresh of spirit, and resolved
To meet all perils very constantly.

Which central idea does this speech about omens best support?

Maybe fate does control everything.
Fate controls nothing.
Everyone should seek to climb ambition’s ladder.
The reward for a life well-lived is worth all sacrifice

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
"Maybe fate does control everything."

Cassius, who previously rejected superstition (Epicurus), now says he partly believes omens: the two eagles that fed the troops have flown off and been replaced by ravens and kites — signs he reads as a fatal canopy over their army. That shift supports the idea that fate or destiny may govern events.