Ethos facts for kids
Ethos is a Greek word that means 'character'. It describes the main beliefs or ideas that define a group of people, a country, or a way of thinking. It also refers to the balance between being careful and being passionate. Ancient Greeks also thought music had the power to change feelings, actions, and even morals. Stories about Orpheus show this idea well. In public speaking, ethos is about how believable a speaker is. It's one of the three ways Aristotle said people can be persuaded, along with pathos (emotions) and logos (logic).
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What Does Ethos Mean?
The word Ethos (from the Greek words ἦθος and ἔθος) originally meant "a usual place" or "custom/habit." Think of it like the natural home or habits of horses. This is similar to the Latin word mores, which also means customs.
The word ethos is also the root of ethikos, which means "showing moral character." This is where we get the idea of morality from.
How We Use Ethos Today
Today, ethos describes the main character, attitude, or core values of a person, group, organization, culture, or movement. For example, the writer T. S. Eliot once said that the general ethos of people affects how politicians behave. This means the common beliefs and values of the public guide their leaders.
Historian Orlando Figes also wrote that in Soviet Russia in the 1920s, the ethos (or guiding spirit) of the Communist party influenced almost all parts of public life.
The ethos of a group can change over time. For instance, new ideas about money and business came to Palestine in the 1930s. This led to a shift from an ethos focused on farming to one that valued fast development.
Ethos in Public Speaking
In public speaking, ethos is about how believable the speaker is. It's one of the three main ways to convince people, according to Aristotle. The other two are logos (using facts and logic) and pathos (appealing to emotions).
Speakers need to show their ethos right from the start. This can mean showing they are honest and good. Aristotle also said it includes showing you have knowledge and are an expert. He believed a speaker's ethos is mostly built by what they say during their speech. However, others think that a speaker's overall character and past actions also shape their ethos even before they start speaking.
According to Aristotle, there are three parts to a speaker's ethos:
- phronesis – This means having useful skills and practical wisdom.
- arete – This refers to showing virtue and good intentions.
- eunoia – This is about having goodwill towards your audience.
It's important to remember that ethos isn't just about the speaker. It's also about how the audience sees the speaker. The audience decides if a speaker is trustworthy or not.
A speaker's ethos can be weakened if:
- They have a personal interest in the outcome of the discussion. For example, if someone is trying to prove they are innocent of a crime.
- They have a hidden reason or secret goal for what they are saying.
- They don't have enough knowledge or experience about the topic. For example, a lawyer talking about space travel might be less convincing than an astronaut.
Even if a speaker's ethos is weak, it doesn't automatically mean their argument is wrong. It just means you should be more careful about believing them.
Character in Greek Plays
The way characters were created was very important in ancient Greek tragedy. The conditions of Greek theater affected how characters were shown. For example, there was usually only one unchanging stage setting. Also, a group of performers called the chorus was always present. There were only a few actors, which limited how much characters could interact. Large outdoor theaters and the use of masks also made characters seem more formal and simple.
Characters in Greek tragedies were almost always based on well-known myths. This meant the characters and their stories were already familiar to the audience. Greek plays were also quite short. This meant characters were often defined by one main goal or motivation from the beginning of the play.
However, characters in Greek tragedies weren't always completely unchanging. For example, Antigone, a strong character who defies a king at first, later shows doubt and asks for mercy when she is about to be executed.
Sometimes, a character in a Greek play might seem confusing because of what they do or how they are described. One way to understand this is to think of them as "flat" or "type-cast" characters. This means most of the information about them focuses on one main quality or idea. Characters could also be seen as symbols. For instance, the Eumenides might symbolize revenge, or Clytemnestra could symbolize an old family curse.
Some experts believe that characterization wasn't the most important thing in Greek plays. They think the play was meant to affect the audience scene by scene. The characters were only given enough detail to make their actions understandable within each situation.
Plays are made up of language, character, and action, and how these three parts work together. Action often shows us who the characters are. For example, in the play Julius Caesar, Brutus is a character who loses his credibility. The way these three parts affect each other is also important. This means a character's personality can greatly impact what happens in the story.
Aristotle believed that the plot (the story) was more important than the characters in a tragedy. He said a plot could exist without detailed characters, but characters couldn't exist without a plot. However, many people today remember the characters from Greek tragedies more than their plots. Still, Aristotle was right that you can't show a character without at least a basic story outline.
Another word used to describe how a character is revealed in writing is "persona." While ethos comes from the idea of public speaking, persona comes from literature and is linked to a theatrical mask. Persona can show the difference between a writer's real self and the "self" they create through a narrator in their story.
Ethos in Art
Ethos, or character, also appears in ancient Greek visual art. This includes murals, pottery, and sculptures that show famous or mythological events. Even Aristotle praised the Greek painter Polygnotos because his paintings showed character.
The way a person and their actions are shown in art can tell us about their moral character and the overall message of the artwork. This is just like how poetry or plays do. This art often showed people as they "ought to be," which matches Aristotle's idea of what ethos should be in a tragedy.
Art often focused on ethos by showing a character's moral choices. To show these choices, art might even show a scene that happened before the main action took place. Ancient Greek art also showed that character was a major reason why the Greeks won their battles against enemies. Because of this, ethos was a key part of understanding the connection between myths and real life.
See also
In Spanish: Ethos para niños
