During the 700-800 B.C in Greek, oral stories such as The Iliad were often told based on heroic individuals. The Iliad was recited by Homer and translated by Robert Fitzgerald, is about a Greek hero named Akhilleus who quits fighting for the Greek after Lord Agamemnon humiliated his pride and took away his prize, lady Briseis. Akhileus’ anger turn into flame and he plead to his mother, Thetis, to make the Greek be defeated by the Trojan. After several battles, the Greek has lost a great amount of warriors and they had lost everything to the Trojan. Lord Agamemnon is terrified and he declares to everybody to go home, but Nestor convinces Lord Agamemnon to bring Akhilleus back by offering Akhilleus valuable gifts. Agamemnon agrees and sends Odysseus, Phoinix, and Aias to convince Akhilleus to return to the battle. Each of them gives Akhilleus a lengthy sermon; however, anger is still has not faded in Akhilleus’ mind and he is thinking about sailing home. When it is Aias’ turn, he angrily speaks to Akhilleus and expresses his disappointment. Aias’ speech is very effective than the others is because he uses ethical, logical, and emotional appeals and choice of words to convey his message to Akhilleus.
In Aias’ speech, he uses examples of ethical appeals to inform Akhilleus to do the right things or to perform the right actions. This part of Aias’ speech is an example of ethical appeals, “A normal man will take the penalty for a brother slain or a dead son… Fury and pride in the bereaved are curbed when he accepts the penalty (769-774).” This quote means when one has offended or murdered someone, one must present gifts to the victim’s family for one’s wrongdoings. In return, the victim’s relatives will receive the gifts without complaints. This part of Aias’ speech is effective because Aias thinks that Akhilleus should do the right things by accepting the offerings and