Abstract
In Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, Cinna the Poet is killed by an angry mob because he is mistaken for another Cinna, one of the conspirators against Caesar. The aim of this paper is to analyse how Shakespeare insists on the unfortunate destiny of this poet whose proper name is fatally misread. From the references to Plutarch and the legend of Orpheus, to the modern adaptation by the British playwright Tim Crouch, the fate of this poet raises questions on the political, literary and intertextual dimensions of the proper names. The uncanny doubling of identities unveils the ambivalence of language.