Monologues of Cassius

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Cassius used two different monologues to convince Brutus to help him assassinate Caesar. In the first monologue, Cassius used ethos to change his reputation and make Caesar seem weak and in the second monologue, Cassius used pathos and logos to convince Brutus of Caesar’s ambition and convince Brutus that it was his duty to stop it; both monologues convinced Brutus of different things but together they persuaded Brutus to join Cassius. The first monologue was used to show Brutus that Cassius was the better man and the second monologue was used to show just how much Caesar needed to be stopped. In the end, Brutus was swayed and ended up assisting Cassius with his plot against Caesar. Cassius’ first monologue was filled with techniques and appeals that helped Cassius convince Brutus to help him assassinate Caesar. In the first monologue, Cassius tells Brutus a story about a time that he saved Caesar from drowning in a river. When Cassius tells his story, he uses very specific word choice to portray himself as a hero and to make Caesar seem like he is weak and helpless. He is using the rhetoric ethos to promote his reputation in doing this and he is trying to convince Brutus that assassinating Caesar wouldn’t be very difficult. In lines 23-26, Cassius says, “Ay as Aeneas, our great ancestor, did from the flames of Troy upon his shoulder the old Anchises bear, so from the waves of Tiber did I the tired Caesar.” In this quote you can clearly see that Cassius is bragging about how amazing he is. He is comparing himself to a great legend and trying to make himself seem better than he really is. Making himself sound noble and brave is Cassius’ way of using ethos to his advantage. He is trying to convince Brutus to join him because working with strong men is a huge honor. In the same way, Cassius uses ethos to try to give Caesar the reputation of a fragile ruler who has

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