Caligula

The patricians gather to watch a performance from Caligula. Helicon and Caesonia introduce him and declare that the gods have come to earth, but when Caligula appears, the stage directions note that he is “grotesquely attired as Venus” (40). Caesonia leads the crowd of patricians in a litany of prayers, many of them absurd and blasphemous, and the audience obediently repeats them. Some of the prayers invoke Venus’s character, but others appear to echo Caligula’s nihilism: “Make known to us the truth about this world—which is that it has none […]. And grant us strength to live up to this verity of verities” (40-41).

After the play, Scipio, deeply offended, accuses Caligula of blasphemy. While neither of them believes in the gods, Scipio feels that one shouldn’t disrespect what many hold to be sacred. Caligula says that he is offended by the very notion of the gods and how they behave; to make his mark against them, his goal is to outdo them in capriciousness. When Scipio accuses him of playing the tyrant, Caligula objects and says that he has avoided starting wars out of respect for human life; the devastation wreaked in his reign is far less than that of a tyrant.

Caligula asks Helicon for an update on capturing the moon. Helicon tries to warn Caligula that there is a plot against his life, but Caligula answers with repeated fantasies about catching the moon. Helicon leaves Caligula with evidence: a tablet that shows the assassination plot in motion, with Cherea as the ringleader. Soon a patrician enters and bears the same warning to Caligula. The emperor still does not listen. He toys with the patrician until the patrician admits that, contrary to what he said, there cannot possibly be a plot against Caligula’s life. Caligula turns the dialogue wherever he wants it to go—not unaware of danger but choosing not to discuss it.

Caligula summons Cherea. While the emperor waits for Cherea to arrive, he addresses his reflection in the mirror, providing a rare moment in which the veil falls away from his self-performance: “You decided to be logical, didn’t you, poor simpleton?” he says to himself. “The question now is: Where will that take you?” (49). He reaffirms his intention to follow his logic to the end. When Cherea appears, Caligula engages him in what at first appears to be an honest discussion of philosophical principles. Cherea says that Caligula’s perspective is logical, but that it is not a sound basis for living one’s life. Cherea wants to live in a safe and predictable world, even if it is built on logical absurdities: “I refuse to live in a topsy-turvy world. I want to know where I stand, and to stand secure” (51). Cherea frankly says that Caligula’s death will be necessary. Caligula produces the tablet of evidence against Cherea, but instead of having the nobleman arrested, he burns the evidence in front of Cherea and lets him go.