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Irony
Definition of Logos
Logos, along with ethos and pathos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Logos is an argument that appeals to... read full definition
Logos, along with ethos and pathos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective speaking or writing). Logos is... read full definition
Logos, along with ethos and pathos, is one of the three "modes of persuasion" in rhetoric (the art of effective... read full definition
Book 2
Explanation and Analysis—Good Calm Sense:
When Antinous, leader of the suitors, complains about Penelope's tricks and argues that Telemachus should send her back to her father's home so that he might select a husband on her behalf, Telemachus uses both logos and pathos in his argument that it would be unjust to send his own mother away:
But with calm good sense Telemachus replied:
“Antinous, how can I drive my mother from our house
against her will, the one who bore me, reared me too? [...]
Oh what I would suffer from her father —
and some dark god would hurt me even more
when mother, leaving her own house behind,
calls down her withering Furies on my head,
and our people’s cries of shame would hound my heels.
I will never issue that ultimatum to my mother.
And you, if you have any shame in your own hearts,
you must leave my palace!
Here, the poem emphasizes the logical nature and "good calm sense" of Telemachus's response. He argues that it would be inappropriate for a son to banish his own mother, as this would violate his natural obligation to her. Further, he reasons that the gods themselves would likely punish him for sending Penelope from "her own house," sending "Furies" to torment him. He wraps up his argument with a strong emotional appeal, noting that the suitors must leave if they have "any shame" in their "hearts," underscoring the disgrace that their presence has brought to his family. His speech here, combining pathos and logos, attests to the budding maturity of Telemachus, who is poised to assume a more active role in Ithaca.
Related Themes:
