The Importance Of The Omens In Julius Caesar

Calphurnia concludes her argument by stressing the importance of the omens as Caesar expresses doubt of this and his role in them, as well as saying she can be his excuse for staying home to give him a way out without being ridiculed. Calphurnia specifically choices to call Caesar “my lord” to emphasize the status difference between them and to make him feel important. She tells Caesar that he cannot see the importance of the omens because his “wisdom is consumed in confidence”. This selection of detail is saying that he is being so confident that he fails to see the importance of the omens, but at the same time is flattering Caesar by telling him he is smart and confident, disguising the insult because she knows her audience. She is trying …show more content…
This detail shows that she might be able to detect that Caesar is actually afraid, but he is too worried that admitting that will cause him to be ridiculed by the people he seeks honor from. However, she wants him to see that she is doing it because she is terrified and is willing to put the blame on herself in order to get Caesar to understand that and listen to her. Calphurnia is trying to build pity in Caesar and continues to do so as she goes down “upon [her] knee”. This detail allows for Caesar to find an excuse in his wife to stay home, but is taken as pity as Calphurnia creates a physical example of their split in status, allowing Caesar to look down on her and take pity. The final detail that Calphurnia adds about “send[ing] Mark Antony to the Senate House” exhibits logos and allows Caesar to see the logic in the plan to stay home by instead sending a trusted follower to take his …show more content…
Calphurnia attempted to persuade Caesar by instilling fear in him about the omens, but he never quite grasped the severity of them. Instead, what briefly wins him over is when she begs him to stay home and makes him feel worshipped. Decius’ argument held many strong points, including his chance to refute what Calphurnia said. This allowed him to provide Caesar with the holes in her argument. Also, while both Decius and Calphurnia used pathos, Decius’ approach to it worked better because he targeted a specific fear Caesar has and not a general fear trying to be invoked in him. He targeted Caesar’s fear of not being respected and held in honor by others. The build up of Caesar’s confidence by explaining the dream and the sudden onslaught of repercussions he provided him with if he did not attend the capitol to bring it down, was extremely effective. He brought Caesar’s confidence levels on a rollercoaster and played with his biggest fear, proving that he knew his audience better than Calphurnia. His effective and sound argument is what ultimately led to the assassination of Caesar and eventually the downfall of everyone around him. The art of an argument is not having the “right side” of it, but instead having the right tools to build it to seem that