I read Macbeth for the first time this year.
I love Shakespeare’s plays (except for Romeo and Juliet) and had wanted to read Macbeth since high school. However, my TBR list is enormous, so I never got around to it.
I finally bought Macbeth on Audible and listened to it on my runs last spring. It is awesome!!! If you have not listened to it, or seen the play, I highly recommend it. So twisted.
What does Macbeth have to do with the 15th of August? Well, Shakespeare’s play might have been fiction, but some of its characters were based on real people, and two of those real people died on August 15 (but not in the same year.)
The Scottish king Duncan (called Donnchad) died on August 15, 1040. Unlike the book, Lady Macbeth had nothing to do with his death. Instead, he died in battle by the hands of Macbeth (called Mac Bethad), who was in charge of Duncan’s army. Macbeth then became king and ruled until he was killed on August 15, 1057, by Duncan’s son. What a twist!
So, beware of the ides of any month, but also be aware of when the ides are. In March, May, July, and October, the ides are on the 15th, but in January, August, and December, it’s the 13th. I didn’t find a logical reason for this, but when it came to creating calendars, the Romans weren’t that logical.
So beware of the 15th of August (especially if you’re Scottish,) but don’t worry about the ides until October.