Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Persuasive Speeches
Throughout the book there are many speeches that might or might not be very accurate but they do have a common theme. I've noticed that every time a figure of authority wants his army to act a certain way, that would be beneficial for their land, they say a speech. They refer a lot to ancestors and honor so the arm can feel a sense of responsibility to fight with pride. Most speeches are persuasive but different men use different tactics to persuade. For example, in Book 6 from paragraph 8-24 we see that Nikias is trying to persuade the Athenians not to go on the journey to Sicily but Alcibiades convinces them to go. However, Nikias didn't give up and gave another speech but this time instead of telling them not to go, he stated all of Sicily's strengths to scare the Athenians. Nonetheless, it didn't work but Thucydides made it clear that speeches were used as a way to persuade with authority.
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Another example of persuasion in speeches is when the Mytileneans are spoken about by Cleon and Diodotus, regarding whether they should be put to death or not. Cleon argues that the Mytilenean men deserve to be killed and the woman and children enslaved. Cleon regards them as “being of all the citizens most violent and with the people at that time far the most powerful” (Bk. 3 §38). Diodotus fights back by saying, “For we contend not now, if we be wise, about the injury done by them, but about the wisest counsel for ourselves”, essentially stating that the Athenians should not worry about law, but rather worry about what is good for the commonwealth. These types of speeches seem to be recurring, as people argue back and forth in order to persuade others to take a certain standpoint on a subject.
ReplyDeleteWe see a different persuasion in Book II's funeral eulogy, delivered by Pericles. His persuasion seems almost over-grandiose, the way he is making the Athenians look so strong and taking focus away from their various weaknesses (which, ironically enough, are showcased later in the book through the chapter's that cover the end of Athenian imperialism). We see this persuasion in phrases such as "for we love beauty while practicing economy and we love wisdom without being enervated. (Bk. 2 §40)" It's as if this speech is not only to convince the world, but the Athenians themselves, of the greatness of that empire in particular. This overconfidence is to become their downfall, and I find that very interesting to note.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the speeches in The Peloponnesian War are heavily used when people are trying to be persuasive and show authority. Like when the Plataeans were trying to save their people from execution, they gave a long winded speech to the Lacademonians attempting to persuade them that they would be wrong to punish the Plataens for things that were not their fault. The Plataeans in particular tried using a lot of pathos, claiming that if they were punished and if their people were executed the Lacademonians would be wronging their past oath, one that their ancestors before them fought for. They also focused heavily on who was to blame, trying to persuade the Lacademonians that they were not to blame for what the Athenians did, and that from their speech the Lacademonians should take pity on the Plataeans and not punish them for what was not their fault.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Melissa completely but I also think that along with persuasion, speeches are used not only to convince the audience to agree with the speaker, but also to make the speaker appear even more powerful than they are. Because there were few ways to show dominance and importance during this period, I think that the the more affective the speech, the more likely the audience is to respect the speaker. When it comes to tactics, I also think that the best speeches were made by the speakers who knew what the audience wanted to hear or knew the way they needed to hear something. I think that just like Melissa stated, Nikias speech is a perfect example of this.
ReplyDeleteAs others have mentioned elsewhere in the blog, the speech plays a similar role in Ancient Greece to that of audiovisual media in contemporary societies. In the most basic terms, I think speeches were so popular and effective in Athens because they were simply the best mode of mass communication at the time. Technological media is nonexistent. There is no wartime propaganda, no state-controlled news source. The single, best way to rally military morale and convince the masses was a public speech. I see interesting parallels between this tendency in PW and the emphasis in Socratic philosophy on open discourse as the best method for discovering truth. Granted, in PW the interest in conversation is merely instrumental to an interest in conquest, but we can clearly see the cultural tendency in Athens for rigorous debate and heated discussion.
ReplyDeleteI think one of the reasons why speeches were so effective is what Evan said. There was really no other way for people to communicate to the masses since obviously they couldn't broadcast themselves throughout the country like the leaders of today can. Also, another reason why speeches were so effective is because, like we mentioned in class, most people couldn't read very well so writing and delivering a message wasn't an option. The best example I can think of for this is Perikles' speech after the plague when the Athenians were threatening to over throw him. A written letter trying to convince them that they would win the war and to keep listening to him would have never been as effective as the moving speech he gave to Athenians where they were able to see that he truly meant what he was saying and wasn't just making stuff up so that the Athenian's would incarcerate him or worse. Instead he got off with just a fine, which was a pretty light punishment since everyone at the time was against him I found Perikles' speech to be the best example of a persuasive speech right next to the Theban's speed at the trial of the Plataeans.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite examples of speeches and their importance is when the Plataians speak to the Lacedaemonians to try to convince them not to kill all the Plataian warriors. After their speech, the Thebans speak up and explain how the Plataians betrayed an oath with the Thebans earlier on in the Peloponnesian War. The Thebans explain how the Plataians, after making an oath to give the warriors on the inside of the city walls back to the Thebans, went back on their promise and slaughtered all their men. The Thebans end up convincing the Lacedaemonians to kill off the Plataians, since they are not to be trusted. Speeches have utmost importance in Thucydides' telling of the war, and they are perhaps more powerful in decision-making than any other action. Although the warriors are fighting, the speeches made behind the walls of cities indeed control all other aspects of the war, including decisions regarding punishment, enslavement, and agreements.
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