In the Encomium of Helen, Gorgias attempts to prove Helen’s innocence since she is blamed to be the cause of the Trojan War. Gorgias uses rhetoric to persuade listeners to believe why there are only four reasons to explain why Helen was driven to Troy. All of which he will argue were not her fault. Fate was the first cause, followed by force. Gorgias then seems to focus the most on the power of Logos, or words. Finally he explains how she could have been compelled by love (82 B 116).
I will assume Fate was pretty explanatory when Gorgias wrote the Encomium of Helen since he does not delve deep into his reasons like he later does for Logos. He mentions that a human cannot obstruct the will of God, or Fate, because humans are weak and God is stronger. Helen was a mere human so she could no way stand in the way of Fate. Gorgias concludes that Helen is not to blame in this case (82 B 116).
Force was also not mentioned a great deal by Gorgias.
He says that if she was taken by force then it is clearly her abductor’s fault and not hers. Gorgias states that the abductor, or barbarian, that committed this act should receive the blame and punishment. After all, Helen is being robbed of her home and friends, and therefore should be pitied and not blamed (Freeman).
The majority of the Encomium of Helen is Gorgias trying to explain that Logos in its many forms could have caused Helen to venture to Troy. Speech, poetry, wizardry, and persuasion by lies are all forms of Logos that are very powerful. Gorgias goes on to explain three different occupations that use Logos to gain acceptance of opinions.
The Essay on Hector and Helen
The characters in homer’s Iliad have from time to time afforded a first class battleground for scholars and students alike. Through parallels, contrasts, and counter positioning of characters and actions, the principle characters have been analyzed and objectified as embodiments of certain ideals permeating the Greek society. Helen, like Klytaimestra, Pandora, Medea and Phaedra; has been portrayed ...
Ultimately, Gorgias finishes comparing Logos to the effects of a drug (Freeman).
Gorgias argues that speech or Logos can achieve many marvelous achievements by the means of the smallest form. Logos “can even put a stop to fear, remove grief, create joy, and increase pity” (Freeman).
Gorgias continues by trying to prove the power of Logos. Poetry is a form of Logos. Gorgias defines poetry as speech in meter.
Since speech causes many things like he explained before, then poetry must be speech in meter because it can cause the listener to “shudder in terror, shed tears in pity, and yearn with sad longing” (Freeman).
Through this poetry, the hearer’s soul will begin to feel the same way (82 B 119).
Wizardry and witchcraft are another way Logos can be used. Special incantations can bring pleasure and also avert grief. These incantations can unite with the soul, persuade, and then change it with witchcraft (82 B 1110).
Gorgias says that two types of witchcraft have been invented. One is through the errors of the soul. The other is from deceptions in the mind (Freeman).
Persuasion through lies is another way Gorgias says Logos can be used. He says that if everyone remembered everything in the past, knowledge of the present, and foreknowledge of the future, then someone could not use lies to persuade them otherwise.
However, since this is not the case with most humans, deception is easy (Freeman).
Most people will listen to an opinion that is persuasive. But Gorgias argues that an opinion is unreliable and those who make use of it are fallible (82 B 1111).
Gorgias then relates how Logos could be similar to force.
He says that Helen could have come under the influence of Logos against her will, just as she could have been abducted with force (82 B 1112).
Therefore, the persuader should be blamed for his actions and not Helen. Gorgias goes on to further drive in the point of Logos by relating to familiar practices. Astronomers used Logos to get people to believe in their opinion by explaining how something that seemed incredible and unclear was not (82 B 1113).
During legal contests speeches were used to “sway and persuade a crowd, by the skill of its composition, not by the truth of its statements” (Freeman).
The Essay on Speech Analysis: Margaret Atwood
1.Atwood uses a personal anecdote of herself as a child, and then her daughter, which becomes an intriguing motif throughout her speech 2.Atwood frequently adopts an ironic tone in order to appeal to both Logos and Pathos. She uses logic (Logos) to undermine logic (appealing to Pathos) and this can be shown in the paradoxical line ‘We con-artists do tell the truth’. Overall this paradoxical voice ...
Finally, he explains that in philosophical debates, the swiftness in thought is shown easily altering the confidence of opinion (82 B 1113).
To finish, Gorgias compares speech to the effects of drugs. He explains that just as drugs are used to heal people or hurt people, Logos too can cause similar actions. “Different words can induce grief, pleasure or fear” (Freeman).
Others can also “drug or bewitch the soul” (82 B 1114) with evil persuasion. Love is Gorgias’ final possible cause to Helen’s venture to Troy. He argues that if she was persuaded with love, then what she saw had its own nature, not chosen by her.
What she saw impressed her soul through sight (Freeman).
Gorgias gives an example of soldiers in war. The sight of an enemy in the distance in their full war uniform causes fear, even though danger is not yet apparent. Fear is aroused by sight, and that overshadows the powerful habit produced by custom where honor leads to victory (Freeman).
Therefore, the sight of Paris stimulated love into her soul and there was nothing she could do about it. Gorgias concludes his speech believing he gave sufficient evidence from the four reasons he proposed.
He says he was able to prove the innocence of Helen (82 B 1121).
He finally concludes that he wrote this speech to praise Helen, and that is was also just an amusement for himself (Freeman).
References: 1. Freeman, Kathleen. Gorgias, ‘Encomium on Helen’. 1948.
Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 17 Apr. 2005. 2. Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy From Thales To Aristotle. Ed.
S. Marc Cohen, Patricia Curd, and C. D. C.
Reeve. 2 nd ed. Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Company, Inc. , 2000. 84-85.
