Study Questions
1. Did Menas exhibit strong confidence in Pompey’s actions in accepting the triumvirate’s offer of peace?

2. In the opening line of Scene 6, Pompey says, “Your hostages I have, and so have you mine.” What are the hostages and why would Pompey and the triumvirate have them?

3. Explain why Antony, in Scene 6, tells Pompey that “Thou canst not fear us.”

4. When Menas and Enobarbus, alone on the stage after the others have exited, discuss the situation, of what do they accuse each other?

5. To whom was Octavia married before she married Mark Antony?

6. What is Enobarbus’ opinion of the marriage between Antony and Octavia?

7. Antony says to Octavius (Caesar), “They take the flow o’th’Nile/By certain scales i’th’ Pyramid.” What is he talking about?

8. Antony says, “These quicksands, Lepidus,/Keep off them, for you sink.” Of what “quicksands” is Antony warning Lepidus?

9. Near the end of Scene 6, a most unusual conversation occurs between Pompey and Enobarbus. What are they discussing?

10. What incident indicates Pompey’s desire to become the ruler of the world?

Answers
1. Menas thought Pompey was making a great mistake by acceding to the peace offer the triumvirs had made.

2. To prevent either party from gaining an advantage over the other while they are discussing the possibilities of peace, each warring faction takes one or more hostages, usually relatively high-ranking people, belonging to the other side.

3. It was generally recognized that Pompey’s forces were superior on the sea, but the triumvirate’s forces were superior on the land. Antony offers to hold the talks at sea—an advantage to Pompey.

4. They accuse each other, only partly in fun, of being thieves.

5. Octavia was married to Caius Marcellus, a major Roman official.

6. Enobarbus says Antony will return to his “Egyptian dish” (Cleopatra), regardless of his marriage to Octavia, and that will cause a falling out between Octavius (Caesar) and Antony.

7. Antony is explaining that markings on the pyramid indicate how deeply the Nile River has overflowed its banks.

8. Antony is warning Lepidus, his fellow triumvir, of the dangers of consuming too much alcohol. Lepidus does not heed the warning and drinks so much that he passes out.

9. Pompey and Enobarbus are discussing the manner in which Antony first met Cleopatra. She was wrapped in a carpet and carried to Antony’s quarters, so that nobody would know about the meeting.

10. When Menas suggests that he kill all three triumvirs and thus deliver the world to Pompey, Pompey tells him that he should have done so without asking, but now Pompey must refuse permission or violate the standards of hospitality and thus dishonor himself.