Act I, Scene 1, Lines 89- 117
" I know that virtue to be in you, Brutus,
As well as I do know your outward favour.
Well, honour is the subject of my story.
I cannot tell what you and other men
Think of this life; but, for my single self,
I had as lief not be as live to be
In awe of such a thing as I myself.
I was born free as Caesar; so were you:
We both have fed as well, and we can both
Endure the winter's cold as well as he:
For once, upon a raw and gusty day,
The troubled Tiber chafing with her shores,
Caesar said to me 'Darest thou, Cassius, now
Leap in with me into this angry flood,
And swim to yonder point?' Upon the word,
Accoutred as I was, I plunged in
And bade him follow; so indeed he did.
The torrent roar'd, and we did buffet it
With lusty sinews, throwing it aside
And stemming it with hearts of controversy;
But ere we could arrive the point proposed,
Caesar cried 'Help me, Cassius, or I sink!'
I, as Aeneas, our great ancestor,
Did from the flames of
The old Anchises bear, so from the waves of
Did I the tired Caesar. And this man
Is now become a god, and Cassius is
A wretched creature and must bend his body,
If Caesar carelessly but nod on him. "
Context
In this scene, Caesar just returned from a war on the Feast of Lupercal, and he was being crowned while Cassius and Brutus were having a conversation. Cassius was trying to destroy the close relationship between Brutus and Caesar, and also convinced Brutus to stop Caesar from growing power.
Significance
This quote indicates the characterization of Cassius because it showed that Cassius was being manipulative as he tried to brainwash Brutus. At the same time, it characterized Cassius as cunning because he knew Brutus was very honourable, so Cassius attracted Brutus' attention and trust by referring to honour.
