Encomium of Helen Precis

Nestor Torres Duarte

Instructor Jerilyn Sambrooke

Rhetoric 103A

October 8, 2016

Encomium of Helen Précis

(15) It has been said that if she was persuaded by discourse, she did no wrong but rather was unfortunate; I proceed to the fourth cause in a fourth section. If it was love that brought all these things to pass, she escapes without difficulty from the blame for the sin alleged to have taken place. For the things we see do not have whatever nature we will, but rather that which befalls each. The soul receives an impression in its own ways through the sight.

(16) For example, whenever hostile bodies put on their bronze and iron war-gear of ward and defense against enemies, if the visual sense beholds this, it is troubled and it troubles the soul, so that often panic-stricken men flee future danger <as if it were> present. For the strong habitual force of law is banished because of the fear prompted by the sight, which makes one heedless both of what is judged by custom to be admirable, and of the good that comes about by victory.

(17) Some who have seen dreadful things have lost their presence of mind in the present time; thus fear extinguishes and drives out understanding. And many fall into useless troubles and terrible diseases and incurable dementias; thus sight engraves in the mind images of things seen. And the frightening ones, many of them, remain; and those that remain are just like things said.

(18) But truly whenever the painters perfectly complete one body and figure from many colors and bodies, they delight the sight; and the making of statues and production of figurines furnishes a pleasant sight to the eyes. Thus it is in the nature of the visual sense to long for some things and for other things to give it pain. And in many there is produced much love and desire for many things and bodies.

(19) Accordingly, if Helen's eye, taking pleasure in Alexander's body, transmitted to her soul the eagerness and struggle of Love, is it any wonder? If Love, <being> a god, <has> the divine power of gods, how could the weaker being have the power to reject this and to ward it off? But if it is a human disease and an error of the soul, it ought not to be blamed as a sin but ought rather to be accounted a misfortune. For she went, as she started out, in the clutches of fortune, not by plans of the mind; and by the constraints of love, not the preparations of art.

Gorgias takes a deterministic approach in absolving Helen of the stigma she has so fervently accrued. His fourth and final argument on the matter is the most difficult to further as it deconstructs the most common held accusation towards Helen: that her promiscuity led to the war. In his approach, Gorgias denotes a sort of duality between rationality and instincts—a relationship in which instincts innately take precedence. And on the premise of these predispositions, Gorgias asserts Helen is merely a victim of circumstance.

Gorgias structures his argument in a logical manner. He begins his discourse on love by appealing to our innate human desire to enjoy. There is something that intrigues us all. What that something is varies from person to person. Nonetheless, there remains the common denominator of pleasure, which we are all subject to.

Gorgias goes on to relate the sentiment of pleasure to that of fear—another innate human sentiment. His discourse on fear helps to solidify his deterministic approach. Fear promotes a collectivity of opinion here. It is something we are all predisposed to. And in the moment we experience fear, Gorgias states “the strong habitual force of law is banished because of the fear prompted by the sight, which makes one heedless both of what is judged by custom to be admirable.” We act out of element and our instincts contradict our rationality. In paragraph 17, Gorgias harkens us to respect the trauma that can (and often does) arise from extraordinary circumstances. He honors the arduous mental and emotional labors social actors often endure, and asserts that these experiences shape our inner selves. We are ultimately products of our environments, according to Gorgias.

The next paragraph draws focus once again to pleasure. He states that just as we are subject to pain and suffering, we are also subject to joy and desire. How then, can the latter sentiments be devalued if the former were just conceded? Paragraph 19 reintroduces an appeal based on logos. Love is associated with Eros, a god. Love is thus divine, and as an act of the gods, then humans can only follow suit, for the gods are more powerful. The hierarchy denoted here pervades the text even in this fourth argument. Instincts take precedence over rationality. Gorgias tops this off by speaking of Helen’s motives. She had none.

Ultimately, Helen is asserted to be a victim of circumstance. The love she feels is one her humanity predisposed her to feel (or the gods). There are forces outside of her control which dictate her course of action. And for these she cannot be held accountable.