You like me!

Cicero certainly understood the need to secure the favor of the audience and spends a great deal of Book II of De Oratore expounding upon this need. 

While Cicero seems to have adopted much of Aristotle’s ideal of striving for truth and knowledge, he does not seem to be above creating a sympathetic character if it is to the orator’s benefit. “Now nothing in oratory, Catulus, is more important than to win for the orator the favour of his hearer, and to have the latter so affected as to be swayed by something resembling a mental impulse or emotion, rather than by judgement or deliberation. For men decide far more problems by hate, or love, or lust, or rage, or sorrow, or joy, or hope, or fear, or illusion, or some other inward emotion, than by reality, or authority,or any legal standard, or judicial precedent, or statute." (328).

Cicero is definitely on to something here. We all know that being likable and creating empathy are hugely important in the court room or on the campaign trail. Juries are less likely to acquit an individual they despise even if strong evidence of a crime does not exist. And certainly voters aren’t clamoring at the polls to elect a candidate they can’t “connect with” even if they have similar beliefs. 

And when was the last time you went to a sappy chick flick that didn’t have likable characters. As an audience we don’t even seem to be bothered if the characters are completely unbelievable and unrealistic. Cicero acknowledges that creating a likable character from whole cloth is not ideal but sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do. “Now feelings are won over by a man's merit, achievements or reputable life, qualifications easier to embellish, if only they are real, than to fabricate where non- existent." (329).