Pompey (Antony and Cleopatra)

Play

Antony and Cleopatra

Summary

Sextus Pompey — son of the great Pompey who was Caesar's rival — commands a significant naval force in the Mediterranean and poses a genuine military threat to the triumvirate at the play's opening. He negotiates with Antony, Octavius, and Lepidus aboard his galley off Misenum, reaching a truce by which he controls Sicily and Sardinia. The famous galley scene, in which the four men drink together, ends with Menas whispering that he could cut the cable and murder all three triumvirs, making Pompey master of the world — Pompey refuses on a technicality of honour, admitting the deed would have been welcome if done without his knowledge. His fortunes subsequently decline offstage; he is betrayed and killed.

Notable Quotations

"To you all three, / The senators alone of this great world, / Chief factors for the gods." *(2.6)*

"Ah, this thou shouldst have done, / And not have spoke on't! In me 'tis villainy; / In thee't had been good service." *(2.7 — to Menas, on the missed opportunity)*

Cross-references

• Antony and Cleopatra — the play
• Tragedies
• character_mark_antony — one of the triumvirs he negotiates with
• character_octavius_caesar — the triumvir who eventually destroys him