“ET TU, BRUTE” OR “SEE YOU IN HELL, PUNK.” Thomas Jones had a review in the London Review of Books (December 6, 2018) of a new biography of Brutus by Kathryn Tempest. One arresting point in his review forms the headline: “See you in hell, punk.”
Caesar’s last words are familiar: “Et Tu, Brute.” Shakespeare used the words. They are usually taken as an expression of Caesar’s shock at being stabbed by a man he considered a friend. Suetonius took the position that Caesar said in Greek: ‘Kai su, teknon’ (which Shakespeare turned into the Latin ‘Et tu, Brute?’). It literally means ‘You too, child…”
Tempest cites ‘an important article’ by James Russell (1980) ‘that has often been overlooked’. Russell pointed out that the words “kai su” often appear on curse tablets, and suggested that Caesar’s putative last words were not ‘the emotional parting declaration of a betrayed man to one he had treated like a son’ but more along the lines of ‘See you in hell, punk.'”
I do not have any new insight, just really enjoy this.
That changes the scene immensely. My head is spinning.
I feel like I need to see a production that replaces the line with “See you in hell, punk” to comprehend this.