Encomium of Helen (Praise of Helen)
A defense for Helen through language.
Poetry – Speech (logos) with meter.
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Through words the soul feels its own feelings.
Words inject pleasure or reject pain.
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Through associations with the opinion of the
mind.
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It enchants.
Twin arts of Witchcraft and Magic.
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Illusion of the mind
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Delusions of Judgment.
Persuasion through false speech.
If man had:
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Memory of the past
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Understanding of the present, and
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Prophesy of the future
o
Speech would not be the same in the same way.
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These tasks are hard.
o
Most men have advisors to their minds.
Opinion: Perilous and Uncertain.
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Brings perilous and uncertain fortune to those
who use it.
Those who persuade falsely and compel someone to action
deserve the blame.
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Helen deserves no blame because she was
compelled by speech.
Frist study the astronomers,
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who replace opinion with opinion.
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They make invisible matters apparent to the eye.
Second study the debaters,
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Crowds are swayed by skill – Techne
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Not by the spoken word of truth.
Third study the contests of Philosophy
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The crowd is influenced by the speed of thought.
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Easy to change a conviction based on opinion.
Speech has the same disposition on the sould as
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drugs have on the nature of the body.
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Like drugs, words can
o
Cause pain
o
Produce joy
o
Strike fear
o
Embolden a crowd.
o
Bewitch the soul with evil persuasion.
If Helen was persuaded by speech:
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Her fortune was evil
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Not her action.
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If swayed by love then,
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love is love and she was subject to its
misfortune.
Helen can’t be blamed because she was either
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invaded by love,
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persuaded by speech,
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impelled by force, or
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compelled by divine necessity.
Her name is cleared and I write this for her encomium and my
amusement.
Reference
Gorgias of Leontini.
Encomium of Helen. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. Ed.
Vincent B. Leitch et al. 2nd ed. New York: W.W.Norton & Co.,
2010. 36-41. Print
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