# Julius Caesar — Metamorphoses character guide

> Julius Caesar in Metamorphoses by Ovid.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Caesar, O Caesar

**First appearance:** 0159-deification-of-julius-caesar

## Snapshot

The Roman dictator whose assassination shakes the heavens and whose soul, caught up from the Senate floor, becomes a comet and a god.

## Who they are

Caesar enters Ovid's final book as the pivot between Rome's republican past and its imperial future, a man whose death the gods themselves feel as a wound to the world. The poem treats his murder not as mere politics but as cosmic disturbance, with Venus and Jupiter debating how to rescue his spirit before it can be ambushed in the Senate house. His transformation into a star — and the praise of Augustus that follows — closes the Metamorphoses by binding myth to the living empire, insisting that Rome's story is still unfolding under divine attention.

## In the story

### [Book XV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/book-xv)

Caesar is assassinated in the senate, but his soul is destined to become a star and receive divine honors.

### [Deification of Julius Caesar](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/deification-of-julius-caesar)

Julius Caesar is assassinated in the senate, but his soul is deified and transformed into a comet by Venus.

### [Reign of Augustus, in Which Ovid Flourished](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/chapters/reign-of-augustus-in-which-ovid-flourished)

Mentioned as the glorious offspring and predecessor of Augustus, whose deeds are surpassed by Augustus.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters/julius_caesar
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/metamorphoses_se/characters