Rhetoric Analysis of the Melians and Athenians’ Debate Essay Example

example; where Athenians argue that they have never abandoned a siege because of fear of an enemy; fictional example; where the Athenians argue that many men have been fooled by the word honour that has led then to fall into inseparable disaster where they bring themselves dishonour and so Melians should avoid such fate.

Logical appeals

Deductive argument; Athenians have managed to take over all the other islanders, the Melians are islanders and so the assumption is that the Athenians will definitely take over Melians.
Inductive argument; the Athenians are powerful while the Melians are weak and so the Athenians will defeat and take over the Melians. Enthymemes; The Melians are a colony of Lacedaemon, they will help them fight the Athenians. The counter arguments that are presented include
The Melians argue that the Athenians risk everything to try and take over them while the people that they have enslaved struggle to get their freedom; then it would be stupid of them not to fight and keep their freedom.

The Athenians counter the argument from the Melians that Lacedaemon will help them in the war indicating that an ally looks not to the good will of those who invoke his aid but to the marked superiority of real power and so there is no chance that Lacedaemonians will fight against the Athenians who are the superior power.

The strongest argument of the two arguments

The argument that I find stronger is that of the Athenians, their argument is convincing in that they understand that they have the power to take over the Melians. They also understand the amount of influence that they have on other regions around such as Lacedaemon to know

that Melians should just give in peacefully instead of allowing force to prevail where people will suffer in the process. The Athenians offer Melians the chance to retain their country but be under their authority.