The dogs of war (phrase)
The dogs of war is a phrase spoken by Mark Antony in Act 3, Scene 1, line 273 of William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar: "Cry 'Havoc!', and let slip the dogs of war."
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, 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:
The Troy University Marching Band announcer reads the passage as part of the band's pregame show at every home football game.