What Is The Theme Of Pathos And Logos In The Odyssey

After returning from war, veterans often face many hardships. This theme is demonstrated through pathos and logos in both â€Å"The Odyssey† by Homer and â€Å"Back from War but Not Really Home† by Caroline Alexander. These texts use these rhetorical devices to prove that a soldier’s struggle does not stop when he leaves the battlefield. By doing so, they open the eyes of the reader to the injustice they face. In both articles, pathos, or emotional appeal, is used to show the awkwardness between survivors and civilians. We can see this in the Odyssey when the text mentions, â€Å"But now brilliant Odysseus awoke from sleep in his own fatherland, and he did not know it, having been long away.† Odysseus then says, â€Å"What are the people whose land I have†¦show more content†¦This emotionally-powerful idea snags the attention of the reader and reiterates the theme that soldiers confront several obstacles. Once more, Alexander communicates,  "In practice, November 11 is clouded with ambiguous symbolism, and has become our most awkward holiday.† This quote exposes the uncomfortable situations that a plethora of veterans find themselves in. The very holidays meant to honor these soldiers has suffocated them with the question, â€Å"Why come back alive when you could have died a hero?† By explaining the social pressures soldiers face, the author restated her claims of the adversity soldiers find themselves in. While both of these articles use ample pathos, they also use logos to support their claim. In these passages, the authors use logos, or logical support, to defend their theme. This can be seen in the Odyssey where Homer writes, â€Å"In blood and dust he saw that crowd all fallen, many and many slain.† At this point in the story, Odysseus had just killed all of the suitors that had overrun his home. Both the discourtesy of the men and the act of violence are things that veterans even today must come to deal with. After living in extreme conditions for such a long time, they must strive to adapt to civilian life. This logic supports the message that servicemen have many troubles. Likewise, a character addresses Odysseus by proclaiming, â€Å"God! What evil wind blew in this pest?† In this scene, Antinous, one of Penelope’s many suitors, hasShow MoreRelatedStudy Guide Literary Terms7657 Words   |  31 Pagescharacters are often personifications of abstract ideas as charity, greed, or envy. Thus an allegory is a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning 4. allusion- A reference in one literary work to a character or theme found in another literary work. T. S. Eliot, in The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock alludes (refers) to the biblical figure John the Baptist in the line Though I have seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter, . . . In the New