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The easy answer is pathos means "emotional appeal."

It is the root of words in English such as sympathy and empathy. Sympathy and empathy are sometimes confused, or empathy is rejected outright. You can make up your own mind. Imagine a new friend reveals her father died when she was ten. You reach out your hand in sympathy imagining how hard it would have been for you if your dad had died when you were ten. Conversely, you reach out your hand in empathy telling your new friend that your own father died when you were ten. In other words, empathy sort of means the new-fangled expression of "been there, done that, know how you feel" whereas sympathy means "I can only imagine the pain." Can we ever truly know another's pain? We probably cannot. Two people can both tragically lose their father at a young age, but chances are that their relationships were different. At the least the loss created different emotional and socioeconomic hardships in the short and long term, but empathy doesn't necessarily mean identical. To say " I know your pain" doesn't mean 100% identical; it means "I've sort-of been there, too." If having-been-there-sort-of were not important, why would we have Narcotics Anonymous in addition to Alcoholics Anonymous? Why would people say, "You couldn't possibly know what I've been through unless you've been through it yourself." Someone saying this is looking for empathy, not merely sympathy, and often someone who has been through it before to guide, help, understand... I've gotten off topic, haven't I?

We use the Greek word "Pathos" today largely in rhetoric classes. On one level it means to sympathize with the audience, "I feel your pain. I understand your feelings." On a deeper level it means to resonate the audience's feelings so that they understand that you know their pain. You may be feeling it too and are just the one giving voice to it, or you mentor them by telling them that you've been where they are now and are telling them how you have overcome.

Hope this helps!

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Q: What is the English word of the greek word pathos?
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