Ethos Pathos Logos In The Odyssey

Rhetoric is the art of effective and persuasive speaking or writing. It is through the use of rhetoric that clear, strong arguments are made. Homer evidently knew this, because he implemented all three types of rhetoric in many places throughout his epic poem. The “ethos,” “pathos,” and “logos” arguments are all distinctly employed by the vast array of characters given by the blind bard in a captivatingly realistic way. Not long after the opening scene of the epic, Achilles is seen trying to show Agamemnon how wrong it is that he would think to steal Achilles’s girl, and uses the “ethos” argument to prove it. He tells him, “I don’t have any quarrel with the Trojans, they didn’t do anything to me to make me come over here and fight . . . It’s
He begins by saying, “Achilles, great as you are, don’t be vengeful. They are dying out there, all of our best--or who used to be our best--they’ve all been hit and are lying wounded in camp” (Homer 16.23-27). Odysseus is trying to make Achilles feel sorrow and sympathy for all his friends who are falling because of him. When he says that those who used to be the Greeks’ best are hit, he is making Achilles feel the pain of all the greatness that is going down under the spear, all because of his honor and pride. Turning to anger, Odysseus soon exclaims: “Peleus was never your father, or Thetis your mother. No, the grey sea spat you out onto crags in the surf, with an icy scab for a soul” (Homer 16.37-39). Obviously, what Odysseus says here is not something to be taken literally, but rather a statement about Achilles heart. He is inferring that Achilles is far to monstrous to be offspring of someone as kind and humane as Thetis or Pelias. In summary, Odysseus tries to appeal to Achilles’s heart attempting to evoke both sympathy for his fellow soldiers and regret for what he has
For instance, he begins one sentence off with, “Is it not true, my friend . . .” (Homer 9.255). In saying this, Odysseus is subtly reminding Achilles that they are friends, equals. He is boosting his credibility through an “ethos” argument. Soon after, Odysseus gives a long list of all the rewards that are being offered to Achilles, ending with, “All this he will do if you give up your grudge” (Homer 9.301). Odysseus is now using the “logos” argument because he is giving a clear, logical reason for why Achilles should rejoin the war. Much reward will be gained at the minor cost of his grudge. As a final nail in the coffin, Odysseus adds, “And don’t forget Hector. You might just get him now. He’s coming close, deluded into thinking that he has no match in the Greek army that has landed on his beach” (Homer 9.307-310). Odysseus’s wisdom shines through these words because he is not directly calling Achilles the lesser man, which would get him killed, but slyly evoking anger for Hector in him. He is using the “pathos” argument by inspiring a desire for revenge within Achilles. Odysseus truly a great man with words, which comes out in his many persuasive arguments to