Comment Flashcards
“We Athenians, in our own persons, take our decisions on policy or submit them to proper discussions: for we do not think that there is an incompatibility between words and deeds; the worst thing is to rush into action before the consequences have been properly debated. And this is another point where we differ from other people.” (Pericle, The Funeral Oration)
- Pericles - statesmen, orator, general, powerful family, the first citizen of Athens uncrowned monarch of Athens.
- Eloquent, spoke rapidly but with persuasion.
- Moderate restrained style of oratory.
- Recorded by Thucydides history of the peloponnesian war.
- Changed the structure of funeral speeches to be about present day Athens and its achievements.
- Virtues of Athens: experts in policy and public debate, exhortation to the living.
“O God my God, what miseries and mockeries did I now experience, when obedience to my teachers was proposed to me, as proper in a boy, in order that in this world I might prosper, and excel in tongue-science, which should serve to the ‘praise of men,’ and to deceitful riches.” (Augustine, Confessions, Book I)
Was a pagan, he wrote one of the first autobiographies. His book switches from his story to praising God to discussing theology.
Christ’s Ethos as perceived in the Bible.
- Performing miracles
- His sinless life
- Reciting old Scripture
- Practice what you preach
Solzhenitsyn’ s Ethos as perceived in his Harvard Address.
Gadfly of the Soviet Union, and Western culture. He saw the west on a verge of collapse despite its enshrined freedoms. Wanted to shake america’s public opinion. Harvard address was apocalyptic warnings to the west. His audience was the core of American secular establishment yet he was critiquing secularism. Pessimist speech but calling for a reawakening, used ethos his experiences in Russia.
Frederick Douglas’ Ethos as perceived in his speech “Blessings of Liberty and Education”.
When is it most appropriate to use Pathos within a speech (from the point of view of classical rhetoricians and/or your own)?
When trying to persuade an audience to do something. Such as donate to a charity, or change their belief on an important issue.
