Betrayal

I do not enjoy talking about this topic because I have been betrayed and it stings! But I’m sure you have too. If you haven’t, “how are you doing, God’s favorite?”

What does betrayal mean to you?

Simply put, it’s the destruction of trust via misleading or lying. You could betray your country and that’s treasonous; your family, friends and lovers; that’s treacherous; you betray Jesus and your Judas! Is any one betrayal worse than the other? At the core of it, I don’t think so. It all leads to alienation which may take different physical and spiritual forms like arrest, exile, death, broken relationships etc.

Why do we then betray each other? Greed (of money)? Power? sex? I know Judas betrayed Jesus because of money… I ask because I understand it hurts on both ends and I may or may not, be tempted to betray others too, who knows? How about you? Which end of betrayal have you been on?

Truthfully, at surface level, I think it’s a special kind of treachery when it’s in the context of a personal relationship (friend/family/romantic). It may come with a kiss or a knife in the back; sometimes literally like in the case of Julius Caesar. One among the worst betrayal after Jesus’.

Shakespeare had to be the one to write this betrayal story/play.

Julius’ last words were, “you too, Brutus!”

Brutus and Cassius were two of his closest friends. After Julius defeated Pompey in battle, there arose a class conflict between the Plebians and Tribunes. Plebians celebrated Caesar’s victory while the Tribunes were reprimanding them for celebrating the death of their former leader. There was this seer who kept warning Caesar to be wary of a day in the roman calendar associated with doom called ‘the Ides of March’ but he ignored him. He instead decided to confide in a friend because his intuition bugged him about it as well.

Cassius truly believed Caesar was after power and managed to convince Brutus (via planted letters from ‘citizens’) into thinking that Caesar was going to destroy Rome, and that the people wanted him dead. Caesar’s suspicions were correct all along.

In truth, he had rejected to be crowned 3 times and this was revealed to Cassius later. Was Cassius after power too? Interestingly, on the day of his death, he got 3 warnings: One from the wife who had a dream of his statue bleeding from a thousand wounds. Two, a sign from the priest he visited to consult about his wife’s dream. To read Caesar’s fortune he slaughtered an animal but found it without a heart 🤷‍♀️ which was a bad omen but he insisted that cowardice wouldn’t stop him from doing his duty. Three, from the seer, again. When he enters the senate, he finds his Judases waiting. They gather around him and stab him to death with Brutus giving him the final stab.

This story ends as sad as Romeo and Juliet. In the battle of Philippi that errupted after Caesar’s death; Octavia, Caesar’s adopted son and Antony, Caesar’s confidant fight Cassius and Brutus. When Cassius saw he was losing the battle, he commands his servant Pindarus to stab him, with the sword he used to stab Caesar.

Brutus, who before the battle had seen Caesar’s ghost that told him he will be at the battle too, after hearing about Cassius, he deletes himself too after rendering it as Caesar’s revenge.

Do I need to tell you how Judas Iscariot died?!

Note: This story is told from Shakespeare’s perspective which is based on the real story of Julius Caesar’s death.

People say betrayal is like a stab in the back, I say it’s a stab in the heart. _Just me