The Ides have it

I took three years of Latin in high school, and my Latin teacher was a hoot: Mrs. DePue. She was tall, “old” (at least 50), full of glory and bluster, and now that I think about it, I think she looked like a vestal virgin in the Roman Forum! (I guess she wasn't THAT old.) She was quite statuesque and had a high blonde updo.

Latin class is where I first learned about the Ides of March. I always thought that because of the Shakespeare play in which Spurinna told Julius Caesar to “beware the Ides of March” that they meant something sinister in and of themselves.

Of course, Caesar ignored the warning, went to the Senate on March 15, and was assassinated by his colleagues. But the Ides only mean the middle, or the divIDE, of the month. We don’t use the term any more because months vary too much and have different middles now according to our calendar.

On NPR this morning, there was a great piece honoring the 2050th anniversary of Julius Caesar’s death. It was about CHEMISTRY. Apparently we all inhale in every breath one of the hundreds of trillions of molecules that Julius Caesar exhaled in his last breath! Talk about being united with all things! The chemist who was interviewed was completely serious and believes this wholeheartedly. Of course that means we inhale molecules that EVERY human who has ever lived exhaled in every breath!

It really makes you stop and think about "a world in a grain of sand" as William Blake wrote.

"Ancient of Days" by William Blake