Banquo

ban'kwo, in Shakespeare's tragedy, Macbeth, a general in the king's army, of equal rank with Macbeth. The "Weird Sisters" prophesy that Banquo's descendants shall reign. Macbeth therefore hires assassins to slay him and his son. The son, however, escapes with his life. In one of the most powerful scenes of the play, the ghost of Banquo appears to Macbeth in the seat reserved for Banquo at a banquet, but is invisible to the other guests. The Holinshed Chronicle, regarded as Shakespeare's chief source of material for Macbeth, mentions "Banquho, the thane of Lochquhaber, of whom the house of the Stewards is descended." Many critics, however, believe Banquo to be a purely fictitious character. Sir Walter Scott says, "Early authorities show us no such persons as Banquo and his son Fleance. Neither were Banquo and his son ancestors of the house of Stuart." See Macbeth