Fear as tool in politics and war If you want to sway the populace then pathos and not logos is the best rhetorical device to use. The demos can know something intellectually and yet never be moved to act upon that information, but engage their emotions and you will find that you can move mountains. One of the most powerful human emotions is that of fear. Fear can immobilize a person but it can also prompt them to fight. Fear is often used in political and/or military speeches because it is such a powerful emotion that has the ability incite people to take action when otherwise they might not. Get people's fears raging and the rational part of the mind shuts down. The demos become motivated by their fears; fear of the future, things that
…show more content…
His speech is a great example of how the use of fear can be used to motivate an army to go out to war even when there is no immediate threat. Speaking about the Athenians he says, "So much more have we to fear from this neighbor than from another. Besides, people who, like the Athenians in the present instance, are tempted by pride of strength to attack their neighbors, usually march most confidently against those who keep still, and only defend themselves in their own country, but think twice before they grapple with those who meet them outside their frontier and strike the first blow if opportunity offers. The Athenians have shown us this themselves; the defeat which we inflicted upon them at Coronea, at the time when our quarrels had allowed them to occupy the country, has given great security to Boeotia until the present day. Remembering this, the old must equal their ancient exploits, and the young, the sons of the heroes of that time, must endeavor not to disgrace their native valor; and trusting in the help of the god whose temple has been sacrilegiously fortified, and in the victims which, when we sacrificed, appeared propitious, we must march against the enemy and teach him that he must go and get what he wants by attacking someone who will not resist him, but that men whose glory it is to be always ready to give battle for the liberty of their own country and never unjustly to enslave that of others, will not let him go without a
His speech is a great example of how the use of fear can be used to motivate an army to go out to war even when there is no immediate threat. Speaking about the Athenians he says, "So much more have we to fear from this neighbor than from another. Besides, people who, like the Athenians in the present instance, are tempted by pride of strength to attack their neighbors, usually march most confidently against those who keep still, and only defend themselves in their own country, but think twice before they grapple with those who meet them outside their frontier and strike the first blow if opportunity offers. The Athenians have shown us this themselves; the defeat which we inflicted upon them at Coronea, at the time when our quarrels had allowed them to occupy the country, has given great security to Boeotia until the present day. Remembering this, the old must equal their ancient exploits, and the young, the sons of the heroes of that time, must endeavor not to disgrace their native valor; and trusting in the help of the god whose temple has been sacrilegiously fortified, and in the victims which, when we sacrificed, appeared propitious, we must march against the enemy and teach him that he must go and get what he wants by attacking someone who will not resist him, but that men whose glory it is to be always ready to give battle for the liberty of their own country and never unjustly to enslave that of others, will not let him go without a