Gorgias: The Encomium Of Helen

Gorgias was a famous sophist. A sophist is a class of professional teachers in ancient Greece who gave instruction in various fields, as in general instruction in various fields, as in general culture rhetoric, politics, or disputation. Sophist saw all language as persuasive intent. Gorgias believed that that truth can be created by rhetoric such as poetry. Gorgias thought that a good orator can speak on any topic and persuade the audience with the power of speech. I chose to look at Gorgias writing the encomium of Helen. Gorgias is defending Helen by pointing out specific reasons as to why she should not be blamed for starting the Trojan War. “How can one regard blame of Helen as just, since she is utterly acquitted of all charges, whether

I say this because of the advancement in technology. If a person is not sure what to do in a situation they may look to the internet to find out what others in a similar situation has done. Or maybe the listener needs more convincing because the beliefs that they previously had have been embedded and the chances of them converting to their way of thinking. I also think that Ethos has a big part in whether or not the audience will be completely receptive to the speaker. Now I believe the average person is not trusting of strangers. This mistrust may cause the listener to feel as if they are trying to be tricked into a certain way of

Research from Conley indicated that Gorgias rhetoric was evil and unethical. The research done by Vailvaitcharka suggested that previous researchers are wrong to combine evil with the way in which Gorgias uses his rhetoric in the encomium. I think that both researchers have valid points. For the purpose of evaluating whether or not I agree with using rhetoric in this what, I would respond yes in regard to circumstance. Whenever an individual is educated on the subject matter at hand speech is a useful tool to guide people in making the right decisions. One major downfall of this rhetorical strategy is that it implies any and everyone has power to speak on any subject without having knowledge to back accusations. With the intention of persuading someone on the basis of emotion alone is