Logos, Ethos And Pathos In Aristotle's Rhetoric

The pathos and ethos of cultures is often discernable in literary narratives as expressions of the sentiment of approval or disapproval. Thus, the impact of literary narratives on cultures cannot be understated; the arts do impact and influence culture in both positive and negative ways. This is not a new phenomenon and can be observed in cultures as early as 6 Century B.C. and can be traced throughout human history. An example of this can be seen in Homer’s Odyssey, in which there are certain characters within the narrative that portray what is known as “arete.” Arete is viewed as a desirable character trait which some define as the display of perseverance, quick-wittedness, prowess, valor, etc.

America, the land of equity, has the largest ratio of rich citizens to poor citizens at 12:1. Compared to Japan and Germany’s measly 4:1, this information is outrageous. America is shown to have the most skewed economic pyramid when denoting the amount of people on each side of the economic slide. The selection, Class in America - 2006, an academic paper by Gregory Mantsios, argues the existence and magnitude of class and economic standing in the United States; through the use of fact and opinion, he creates the visual of a society severely divided by economic standing. Gregory Mantsios effectively convinces the audience of the differences in class sanding that cause a significant impact in the lives of americans and economic spectrum with his use of logos, anticipation, and credible evidence.

Aristotle founded the idea that all the best arguments have three key parts: ethos, pathos and logos. Translated from latin, this means ethical, emotional and logical. In the play Antigone by Sophocles, the characters frequently make use of these tools when attempting to persuade another character to conform to their beliefs and thoughts. Antigone tries to get her sister, Ismene, to help her in a crime that she believes is just. Haimon attempts to lessen Antigone’s sentence by lecturing his father about what it means to be a good leader, and the Chorus is just trying to help out anyone they can with wise words from a third party opinion.

Odysseus keeps his men from hearing their tune and they make it past. Next, he goes by the beast Scylla and the whirlpool Charybdis. Five men are eaten, and the rest go to the island of Helios Hyperion, the sun (Homer, Odyssey). Circe warned him not to eat the cows but rather they did at any rate. When they cruise away, Zeus demolishes their boat to rebuff their irreverence (Homer, Odyssey).

Every civilizations in each period of time has had codes of virtue, moral excellence and standard. From The Greeks, to The Romans all the way to Medieval European cultures have expressed these traits in different ways and meaning each more valuable than the last but often interrupted quite different. These differences lie among the great stories of individuals who embody these characteristics of a person and there way of life it takes you inside how a person deals with individual danger. The most articulated value in Greek is virtue the word actually means something closer to being the best you can be or reaching your highest human potential. In Antigone (Fiero 92-98) Antigone is often opposed to her older sister Ismene with blond hair who is beautiful having curves of such beauty and grace.

In A Lesson Before Dying, we see Jefferson’s rise from hog to hero, but in what sense is he a hero? Aristotle’s notion of a tragic hero includes many different aspects and qualifications. Jefferson certainly seems to embody many of the characteristics that we often associate with a classic hero, but this analysis will specifically dive into five of the characteristics described by Aristotle in determining a tragic hero. Though Jefferson does not neatly fit into every one of Aristotle’s categories, it is clear by his actions in A Lesson Before Dying that he is in fact a tragic hero. One of the characteristics of a tragic hero, as described by Aristotle, is that the hero should pass from fortune to misfortune due to some mistake or flaw.

In Protagoras and Logos, Edward Schiappa reflects on the concept of logos. After reading the text myself, I could not help but to draw similarities from the idea of logos, to that of ethos. Through expression, I believe logos to be a medium of ethos, in other words, logos makes up ethos. The likeness between the two subjects are so evident that one can even make the statement that logos and ethos are the same process, that of thought. That being said, the two actions, of logos and ethos, are the same, though they are analyzed in different ways.

In Antigone, a play by the famous philosopher Sophocles, a tale of a brave martyr Antigone, who puts her brother to rest despite the decree of the king is sentenced to death for her betrayal of the kingdom. Death runs rampant throughout the story making it a tragedy of epic proportions. A Martyr by the name of Antigone is named a true tragic hero when she sacrifices her life for a moral and just reason. When looking at Aristotle’s definition of tragedy, Antigone would be the one who is the true tragic hero considering the sacrifices she made regardless of the cost.

Aristotle argues that friendships are required to meet the conditions needed to live the most fulfilling life. His idea of friendship goes along the basics as ‘getting along with’ such as you would with neighbours or say you and the staff in your local coffee shop. What counts as friendship is goodwill that is directed towards each other. For example, awareness of the relationship and the relationship must be mutual. Looking through Nicomachean Ethics book VIII and IX, this essay will discuss just how this takes place through the interpersonal relationships of Humbert and Haze, Humbert and Dolores, Annabel Leigh and Humbert and Humbert and Valeria from the novel ‘Lolita’ (Vladimir Nabokov, 1955) and the film adaptation (Adrian Lyne, 1997).

The conditions of everyday life in the ancient Greek culture are conveyed through artifacts and the Iliad. Specifically, various pottery helps to tell the tale of the ancient Greek way of life and values. From sporting events to religious ceremonies, many details of their culture can be discovered in some way among the legacy of the Greek civilizations, be it artifacts or literature. One Attic black figure hydria depicts two scenes.

Ethos, pathos, and logos are the three rhetorical techniques. Ethos appeals to ethics or character, pathos appeals to the emotion of the audience, and logos appeals to logic by using credible facts. Out of these three, I would say logos is most effective when trying to persuade someone. When an author uses logos, they use facts and evidence to back up their claim. This includes examples and sources.

A Rhetorical Analysis is a study of how writers and speakers use certain words to influence an Audience. In a rhetorical analysis, Pathos, Ethos and Logos are writing techniques used to grab attention from the viewers. Pathos is used to activate an emotion, Ethos is defined for credibility, and Logos is based on logic. Each of these techniques used in writing, commercials and so on are identified in the poem “Please God, I’m only 17!” by Dr. Michael Polling. The poem is based on a young boy Jimmy Rowe, who was killed in a car accident at just 16 years old.