The dogs of war (phrase)

Synopsis

In the scene, Mark Antony is alone with Julius Caesar's body, shortly after Caesar's assassination. In a soliloquy, he reveals his intention to incite the crowd at Caesar's funeral to rise up against the assassins. Foreseeing violence throughout Rome, Antony even imagines Caesar's spirit joining in the exhortations: "raging for revenge, with Ate by his side come hot from hell, shall in these confines with a Monarch's voice cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war."

Interpretation

In a literal reading, "dogs" are the familiar animals, trained for warfare; "havoc" is a military order permitting the seizure of spoil after a victory; and "let slip" is to release from the leash. Shakespeare's source for Julius Caesar was The Life of Marcus Brutus from Plutarch's Lives, and the concept of the war dog appears in that work, in the section devoted to the ancient Greek warrior Aratus of Sicyon.

Apart from the literal meaning, a parallel can be drawn with the prologue to Henry V, where the warlike king is described as having at his heels "famine, sword and fire", like hounds awaiting employment.

Along those lines, an alternative proposed meaning is that "the dogs of war" refers figuratively to the wild pack of soldiers "let slip" by war's breakdown of civilized behaviour and/or their commanders' orders to wreak "havoc", i.e., rape, pillage, and plunder.

In another interpretation, employing the meaning of "dog" in its mechanical sense ("any of various usually simple mechanical devices for holding, gripping, or fastening that consist of a spike, bar, or hook"), the "dogs" are "let slip" as an act of releasing. Thus, the "dogs of war" are the political and societal restraints against war that operate during times of peace.

In popular culture

The phrase has entered so far into general usage that it is now regarded as a cliché, according to the lexicographer Eric Partridge.

Victor Hugo uses "dogs of war" as a metaphor for cannon fire in chapter XIV of Les Misérables:

Another cannonade was audible at some distance. At the same time that the two guns were furiously attacking the redoubt from the Rue de la Chanvrerie, two other cannons, trained one from the Rue Saint-Denis, the other from the Rue Aubry-le-Boucher, were riddling the Saint-Merry barricade. The four cannons echoed each other mournfully. The barking of these sombre dogs of war replied to each other.}}

The Troy University Marching Band announcer reads the passage as part of the band's pregame show at every home football game.

References

Bibliography

• Note: The "Notes" for "Julius Cæsar" chapter in the Cornwall edition close with the signature "SINGER.", apparently referring to contributions based on the work of Samuel Weller Singer.

References

1. Shakespeare, William. (1996). "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare". Wordsworth Editions.
2. (1989). "[[Oxford English Dictionary]]". Oxford University Press.
3. Keen, Maurice. (1995). "Rulers and Ruled in Late Medieval England: Essays Presented to Gerald Harriss". Hambledon Press.
4. Bate & Rasmussen (2007), p. 1834.
5. Bate & Rasmussen (2007), p. 1803.
6. [[Plutarch]]. (1926). "[[Parallel Lives]]". [[Loeb Classical Library]].
7. Cornwall (1843), p. 517.
8. Martin, Gary. "The phrase 'Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war'".
9. Peter Pappas, "Shakespeare for All Time" blog. "[http://www.shakespeareforalltime.com/cry-havoc-and-let-slip-the-dogs-of-war/ Cry Havoc and Let Slip the Dogs of War]".
10. "Definition of DOG".
11. Partridge, Eric. (1940). "A Dictionary of Clichés". Routledge.
12. Hugo, Victor. (1862). "Les Misérables".
13. (29 September 2019). "Troy University Sound of the South – Pregame 2019".