Precis Assignment: Encomium of Helen

Kizal Butt

Rhetoric 103A

10/01/16

GSI: Kuan Hwa

Precis Assignment: Encomium of Helen

            My precis will be on the Encomium of Helen by Gorgias. The Encomium of Helen is a piece of work that essentially attempts to absolve Helen of her infamous reputation of being a supervillain in Athenian and Panhellenic culture. The particular passages I will be focusing on are 13-17, and they begin with the explanation of the persuasive power of discourse and the various forms it takes, and continues on to say how Helena was unlucky in falling prey to the misfortune of fear.

            In the first paragraph (13), Gorgias begins by laying out various forms that persuasion by discourse takes and what it can be used for. Whether its astronomers using discourse to make obscure concepts understandable, discourse in debate which is artful enough to persuade, but not necessarily honest, or the discourse of philosophers, which focuses on the speed of thought, Gorgias is trying to make the point that we encounter discourse in various aspects of our life. He does this in attempt to universalize the persuasive power of discourse, and how it can twist and turn to reach even our own minds. Gorgias not only describes discourse, but shows us the fragility of opinions. Astronomers’ discourse is key in us “…setting aside one opinion and building up another in its stead…” while philosophers speed of thoughts “…renders changeable the credibility of an opinion.” If opinions are so easily replaceable and changeable, who’s to say that unpopular public opinion of Helen can’t also be reversed.

            Paragraph 14 take an analogous route in furthering the persuasive powers of discourse. Although he likens discourse to medicinal drugs, he points out that it can be both healing and lethal, which is an important balance for this argument. Gorgias creates this balance to show both spectrums of discourse, one side where it can give pain and trick the soul (what was done to Helen) and on the other side where it gives delight and rouses the hearers to courage (a nod to Gorgias’s own work).

            Once Gorgias has established that Helen was simply unfortunate in falling prey to persuasion, he moves on to another reason she cannot be at “…blame for the sin alleged to have taken place.” (15) Gorgias is arguing that our sight is not a sense that sees things how we wish to see them, but through whatever impression that thing is emitting on to our soul. This impression does not bend to fit our nature, instead it overtakes our soul. Since having empathy or understanding for Helen might not be an immediate response to this writing, Gorgias attempts to make it as difficult as possible for us to at least deny her humanity, which includes a certain vulnerability to her senses, and more specifically in this case, her vision. Since our nature is not in control whatsoever in this scenario, Helen’s nature also cannot be questioned in any way.

            The impression imposed on our sight through our sight can lead to various emotions, which in turn lead to actions. This is the focus of the next two sections (16 & 17). “For the strong habitual force of law is banished because of the fear prompted by sight…” (16) shows this connection, and the hold this emotion can have on people. Basically, we are nothing in front of fear. When men encounter warriors in battle armor, they run off, prompted by fear. Gorgias uses this analogy to defend Helen because this is a time where war and battle were seen as very honorable acts, where fighting and dying were more admirable than fleeing from danger to save your own life. According to Gorgias, if courageous warriors with such high levels of dignity could flee before the battle even has even begun, who is Helena, a woman, to be able to withstand such persuasion of the soul?

            Fear however, doesn’t just lead people towards certain actions. It can also affect them from the inside out. Gorgias switches from the physical aspect to the mental aspect of fear in the 17^th section where he says that “…fear extinguishes and drives out understanding.” Understanding is how we reason and make sense of the world. It is also one of the ways we potentially differentiate right from wrong, and if fear completely takes these abilities away, we are essentially left clueless in the world. Not being able to know what is right and true can lead people to “…fall into useless troubles and terrible diseases and incurable dementias…” (17) These images remain in our minds and alter our way of thinking and acting. Through the course of these sections, Gorgias spins a defense for Helen but through various perceptions and viewpoints, things that resonated with the audience of the time, making it nearly impossible to argue with the logos of his writing.