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| The moment when change is possible |
In my opinion, a funeral oration is one of the clearest
examples of Kairos. The audience expects something to be said about those who
have passed on and the orator has the opportunity to say something that lifts
the spirits of the audience. Thucydides understands that the audience wants to
hear about the character of Pericles and he fulfills this want, but he also has
his own persuading to do. Laycee Liston mentioned in her post that the orator
had multiple motives for his speech. I would like to expound on her claim.
Clearly, Thucydides is worthy of speaking there. He makes
that clear by stating that he is a historian and has been honest in all of his
writings. He shows the audience by quoting Pericles that he is a patriot by stating their differences
(i.e. how they are better) than the other cultures of their time. Unlike others
who have posted before me, I don’t believe he expounds on logos at all. I claim
that he purposely expounds on ethos, Kairos, and pathos, but not logos. Seizing
the opportunity he had to talk about their country, bringing out the deepest of
emotions in them. Thucydides took advantage of the high emotions quoting Pericles of the event
to persuade them. In fact, not only did he take advantage of their already high
emotions, he stirred them up even more. Pathos was his main tool to persuade
them, and this was only possible because of the unique moment he had found
himself in. So, after establishing his ethos in the beginning, which was
typical and also advised by rhetoricians of their time (arrangement), he uses
the Kairos of the moment to stir up the emotions of the audience to persuade
them of his underlying motive.
So, what was his underlying motive? I’ll let you decide in
the comments below.
I think this is a fair analysis. Although he backs up his claims with facts, it can hardly be said that those facts are accurate or the main focus. He's clearly trying to build the spirits of those involved.
ReplyDeletePericles relied heavily upon logos throughout his funeral oration. Though he employed pathos most of all, he had to back up his arguments using logos. The Greeks were a clever people who weren't going to be convinced without facts. He consistently compared Greek society to the 'barbarians' that surrounded them.
ReplyDeleteI like your analysis, Dylan. In addition to kairos, I think proper decorum is needed (but then again, when is it not?) especially for a funeral situation. I think Thucydides and Pericles get the kairos pretty well, as you have pointed out. So I think they did well on their decorum too.
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