Name
Professor Martin
ENGL-2332-WW1
21 February 2008
A Father’s Love Quells a Warrior’s Rage
	“Remember your own father, great godlike Achilles-/ as old as I am, past the threshold of deadly old age!/ No doubt the countrymen round about him plague him now,/ with no one there to defend him, beat away disaster./ No one- but at least he hears you’re still alive/ and his old heart rejoices, hopes rising, day by day,/ to see his beloved son come sailing home from Troy./ But I- dear god, my life so cursed by fate…/ I fathered hero sons in the wide realm of Troy/ and now not a single one is left, I tell you…” (Homer XXIV. 570-579).
	Despite the ancient Aristotelian origin behind the three argumentative appeals of logos, pathos, and ethos, the system nonetheless proves invaluable in many analytical situations. The technique becomes especially revealing when referenced in an attempt to further understand and evaluate the interactions between characters within Homer’s epic poem The Iliad. Perhaps the most poignant and stirring exchange occurs between King Priam and Achilles, found within Book XXIV, lines 549 through 794 (page 216-222). This interaction between two men who otherwise despise each other arises over concern for Hector’s lifeless and unburied corpse, which Achilles had taken as a trophy and attempted to desecrate in honor of his fallen friend Patroclus. King Priam, overwhelmed with grief, sets out on a dangerous mission to offer Achilles a king’s ransom in exchange for the body of Hector, his son. Priam does not travel alone, however, as the Gods of Olympus send Hermes as his escort, and had previously convinced Achilles to accept the bounty and allow Hector’s body to return to the city of Troy. In his pleading, King Priam relies upon the appeal of pathos, or emotion, in an attempt to soften Achilles’ heart and draw sympathy for himself. For his part of the interaction, Achilles turns to logos, the appeal to reason, as well as to ethos, the appeal to character and ethics.
	King Priam’s singular reason for speaking with Achilles, the man who has killed many of Priam’s sons and now threatens to crush Priam’s empire and enslave his people, lies with the objective of obtaining the body of Hector. To this end, King Priam engages the argumentative appeal of pathos from the very moment he sets his eyes upon Achilles and “prayed his heart out” (Homer XXIV. 569). Through this approach, Priam hopes to worm his way through even the smallest of cracks in Achilles’ iron heart, if such a weakness indeed exists, and thus gain as much sympathy and pity from Achilles as possible. The majority of King Priam’s appeal originates from the assumption that Achilles will equate his own father with Priam, and so become filled with empathy over Priam’s ordeal. With this in mind, Priam begins his conversation with Achilles with an evocation of Achilles’ father by stating: “Remember your own father, great godlike Achilles-/ as old as I am, past the threshold of deadly old age!” (Homer XXIV. 570-571). King Priam continues to build the association between himself and Achilles’ father when he tells Achilles to “Pity me in my own right,/ remember your own father! I deserve more pity” (Homer XXIV. 588-589). Next, Priam attempts to instill a sense of guilt within Achilles for taking the life of his most beloved son. For example, Priam bemoans the loss of nearly all of his sons, and then makes Achilles painfully aware of the anguish he has caused both to himself and to those within the city of Troy by lamenting: “But one, one was left me, to guard my walls, my people-/ the one you killed the other day, defending his fatherland,/ my Hector!” (Homer XXIV. 584-586). Finally, King Priam attempts, unsuccessfully, to lure Achilles away from the war against Troy and back into his father’s loving embrace by stating: “Accept the ransom I bring you, a king’s ransom!/ Enjoy it, all of it- return to your native land,/ safe and sound” (Homer XXIV. 652-654). Ultimately, King Priam’s appeal for the return of his son’s corpse succeeds, as his “words stirred within Achilles a deep desire/ to grieve for his own father” (Homer XXIV. 592-593).
	Despite the emotional weight of King Priam’s words, Achilles does not bow before Priam’s arguments without countering with some of his own. After venting his own emotions, Achilles appeals to logos, or logic, in an attempt to suppress the emotions that now flow freely from both himself and King Priam. Achilles points out the futility of engaging in unrelenting mourning by admonishing Priam, “You must bear up now. Enough of endless tears,/ the pain that breaks the spirit./ Grief for your son will do no good at all./ You will never bring him back to life” (Homer XXIV. 642-645). Achilles similarly places logic over emotion when he convinces King Priam to temporarily set aside his grief and join him in a much needed meal, telling King Priam that they “must think of food./ Later you can mourn your beloved son once more,/ when you bear him home to Troy” (Homer XXIV. 728-730). Achilles also reveals the logic behind his choice to accept Priam’s ransom in exchange for Hector’s remains when he discloses both the orders he had received from his mother on behalf of Zeus, as well as his knowledge of the presence of the protection of the Gods in Priam’s otherwise suicidal trek into enemy territory.
	Along with appeals of logos, Achilles inserts a fair amount of ethos into his arguments and actions as well. First, while outside King Priam’s immediate perception, Achilles orders his servants to clean and anoint Hector’s body before Priam has the chance to see his son in a shattered and disgraceful state. Although the central motivation behind Achilles’ seemingly empathic action lies behind his fear that Priam may, at seeing his son unclean and dishonored, fly into a rage and so also cause Achilles to “fly into fresh rage himself,/ cut the old man down and break the laws of Zeus” (Homer XXIV. 686-687), Achilles nonetheless acts both out of honor as well as morality. Next, Achilles honestly warns King Priam of the danger inherent in remaining in his presence, due to the probable chance that “some Achaean captain comes to visit” (Homer XXIV. 765) in the night, and bids Priam to sleep in the relative safety outside instead. Finally, Achilles independently asks King Priam how long it will take him to conduct proper burial rights for Hector, and promises to hold back both himself “and keep the Argive armies back that long” (Homer XXIV. 774). By volunteering to honor Hector’s burial, and so simultaneously honoring Priam and his family, Achilles demonstrates ethos at its core level, and establishes himself, despite his reputation as an iron hearted and blood thirsty warrior, as sincere, compassionate, sympathetic, and thoughtful. After receiving an answer from Priam, Achilles offers a final assurance to Priam when he states, “All will be done, old Priam, as you command./ I will hold our attack as long as you require” (Homer XXIV. 787-788).
	Throughout the tense and emotional exchange between King Priam and Achilles within Homer’s epic poem The Iliad, each man relies upon his skills in the three argumentative appeals. King Priam pleads with, and manipulates, Achilles not with logic or reason, but with heartfelt emotion and passion. Achilles, though touched, relies upon a leader’s logic and a hero’s character and ethical code in his dealings with the King. Ultimately, the skillful orations and veiled persuasions exhibited by both King Priam as well as Achilles lead to a successful, if not capricious, exchange between the two men that results in increased mutual respect and fleeting yet welcomed peace between the Trojans and Argives.