A Rhetorical Analysis Of Agamemnon By Lysias

I believe that when examining the way characters argue, that the genre does affect the topic. In Lysias 12, Lysias uses stories and vivid language, also known as pathos, to give the details of certain events concerning the reputation of Eratosthenes to the jury. In Agamemnon, Aeschylus uses pathos when Cassandra tells the story of the prophecy she had, describing how a woman would kill her and Agamemnon. Lysias uses his ethical appeal, or ethos, to explain how he and his family are very credible and good citizens, especially when compared to Eratosthenes. Aeschylus uses ethos when Agamemnon explains to the people that he will not walk on the purple carpet stating that, “Such state becomes the gods, and none beside. / I am a mortal, a man; I cannot trample upon / these tinted splendors without fear thrown in my path" (922-924). Lysias uses logos to structure his speech well, as well as using witnesses as credible sources and comparisons of the actions of Eratosthenes. Aeschylus uses logos when Clytemnestra argues that the men that would rise up against her after killing Agamemnon and Cassandra, did not rise up when her daughter, Iphigenia, was sacrificed. The genre of Agamemnon and Lysias 12, effects

Each type of argument was used in specific situations because it would be most effective in that specific argument. In Lysias 12, ethos was the main type of argument Lysias used to persuade the jury. That was how prosecutions worked backed then and he had to make the jurors trust him in order to bring justice to his brother’s execution. In Agamemnon, pathos was the main type of argument used in the play. I supposed it could be labeled as a drama and therefore would explain why emotional and vivid language was used in abundance by Aeschylus. The genre of each of the writings, Agamemnon and Lysias 12, effect the topic of each by changing the view of the argument