Transcript A Call to Arms” by Callinus c. 680 B.C.

“A Call to Arms”
by
Callinus
c. 680 B.C.-630 B.C
Geschke/English IV
"A Call to Arms"
Rhetoric
•
The effective or persuasive use of
language
Geschke/English IV
"A Call to Arms"
Stanza 1
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“How long will you lie idle, and when will
you find some courage”(1)
•
“…Have you no shame of what other
cities will say,/ you who hang back?...”
(2-3)
Geschke/English IV
"A Call to Arms"
Stanza 1
•
•
•
•
•
Purpose of the Rhetoric
Most people desire to not be referenced
as a coward
Especially during this time period
Displays a fundamental knowledge of
human psychology
Rhetoric questions people’s honor and
reputation
Geschke/English IV
"A Call to Arms"
Stanza 2
•
“It is a high thing, a bright honor, for a
man to do battle
with the enemy for the sake of his
children, and for his land
and his true wife…”
(6-8)
Geschke/English IV
"A Call to Arms"
Stanza 2
• Plays on a cultural/human belief
• Protect wife, children and country
• Rhetoric questions people’s patriotism
Geschke/English IV
"A Call to Arms"
Stanza 2
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“…death is a thing that will come when the
spinning
Destinies make it come. So a man should
go straight on
forward, spear held high, and under his
shield the fighting
strength coiled ready to strike in the first
shock of the charge.
When it is ordained that a man shall die,
there is no escaping
death, not even for one descended from
deathless gods.”
(8-13)
Geschke/English IV
"A Call to Arms"
Stanza 2
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•
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Purpose of the Rhetoric
Plays on cultural belief (fate/destiny)
Use of logic—you will die when you are
destined to die no matter where you are.
Therefore, fight in the front lines (most
dangerous)
Most effective use of rhetoric in the
poem
Geschke/English IV
"A Call to Arms"
Stanza 2
•
“Often a man who has fled from the fight
and the clash of the thrown spears
goes his way, and death befalls him in
his own house,
and such a man is not loved nor
missed for long by his people”
(14-16)
Geschke/English IV
"A Call to Arms"
Stanza 2
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Purpose of the Rhetoric
Plays on cultural belief (honor)
You might live but you will not be
remembered
Geschke/English IV
"A Call to Arms"
•
Stanza 2
“the great and the small alike mourn
when a hero dies.
For all the populace is grieved for the
high-hearted warrior
after his death; while he lives, he is
treated as almost divine.
Their eyes gaze on him as if he stood
like a bastion before them.
His actions are like an army’s, though
he is only one man.”
(17-21)
Geschke/English IV
"A Call to Arms"
Stanza 2
•
•
•
•
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Purpose of Rhetoric
Plays on cultural belief (honor)
If you fight, you will be called a hero
If you die in battle, the entire country will
mourn for you
You will be treated as if you were a god
Geschke/English IV
"A Call to Arms"