Question

review the passage. the antithesis is shown in bold. \croesus, tell me who of all men was it who persuaded thee to march upon my land and so to become an enemy to me?\ \o king, i did this to thy felicity and to my own misfortune, and the causer of this was the god of the hellenes, who incited me to march with my army. for no one is so senseless as to choose of his own will war rather peace, since in peace the sons bury their fathers, but in war the fathers bury their sons. but it was pleasing, i suppose, to the divine powers that these things should come to pass thus.\ adapted from herodotus, the histories. translated by g. c. macaulay what is the effect of the antithesis on the passages meaning or tone? it emphasizes the perils of war. it suggests peacetime is just as deadly as war. it implies that croesuss son has died.

Explanation:

Antithesis is a rhetorical device that juxtaposes contrasting ideas. In the passage, "in peace the sons bury their fathers, but in war the fathers bury their sons" contrasts peace and war. In peace, the natural order (sons burying fathers, as fathers are older) is maintained. In war, this natural order is reversed (fathers burying sons, as sons die prematurely). This contrast highlights the unnatural and dangerous nature of war. It doesn't suggest peace is as deadly as war (peace has the natural order of death), and there's no implication about Croesus's son specifically (it's a general statement about war's effect on the order of death).

Answer:

It emphasizes the perils of war.