Gabrielle Imparato Section 10382 English 2800 Professor Ribitzky Rhetoric in the Encomium of Helen Gorgias’ use of rhetoric in the Encomium of Helen helps even more to prove Helen of Troy is innocent. He uses a type of speech called epideictic speech. Helen eloped with Paris of Troy which ignited a destructive war between Greece and Troy. Gorgias attempts to take the blame off Helen in the Encomium of Helen. The reasons Gorgias gives for Helen being innocent are will of fate, the wishes of the gods, the votes of necessity, by force reduced, by words seduced, and by love possessed. Gorgias lays out the reasons for Helen fleeing Sparta, disproves each reason, and reproves Helen of the blame towards the end. He borrowed some of his techniques of persuasion from Socrates. The first reasons Gorgias gives for Helen’s innocence are will of fate, the wishes of the Gods, and the votes of Necessity. This means that it is destiny that initiated Helen to leave Sparta and move to Troy with Paris. Gorgias wrote, “…for god’s predetermination cannot be hindered by human premeditation. For it is not the nature of things, not for the stronger to be hindered by the weaker, but for the …show more content…
weaker to be ruled and drawn by the stronger, and for the stronger to lead and the weaker to follow” (78). It is predetermined by the gods for Helen to go off to Troy with Paris. Helen cannot be held liable for her actions since she is influenced by a force greater than herself. By force reduced and by words seduced are the second reasons that Gorgias argues. Gorgias argues, “But if she was by violence raped and lawlessly forced and unjustly outraged it is plain that the rapist, as the outrager, did the wronging, and the raped, as the outraged, did the suffering” (79). This means that Helen could have been forced to go against her moral judgment. Once the soul and mind have been swayed by persuasion, the body follows. Gorgias appeals to the reader’s emotions to help influence them even more. “For the speech which persuades the soul constrains that soul which it persuades both to obey its utterances and to approve its doings” (81). He puts Helen at the same level as the reader by clarifying the power of deceitful speech. Gorgias also shows that the persuader is a violator and the listener is the victim. He then compares the effects of false speech to a drug. As well as the soul and mind, the drug also takes over the body. Helen cannot be blamed for her ignorance due to her being persuaded by someone who was not truthful. The last argument Gorgias gives is by love possessed.
It is the love for Paris which causes Helen to flee. She was torn between her infatuation to Troy and staying in Greece. Her vision was blurred by the prince of Troy (Paris). She did not see an enemy of Greece, rather an attractive man, perceptively and physically. “It is natural for the sight to be grieved by some things and to long for others; and much love and desire for many things and bodies is wrought in many people,” Gorgias explains (81). Love cannot be controlled and has the same divinity as the gods possess. Gorgias believes that love is a human flaw that everyone possesses. Again, he is trying to relate his argument back to the reader’s emotions. If the audience’s emotions are tempted, they are more likely to agree with the
author. The Encomium of Helen is an exceptional example of Gorgias borrowing ideas from numerous sources in order to support his argument. This passage is an exercise in rhetoric. Gorgias does not believe in following a certain viewpoint. He would rather do whatever he needs to do to persuade his audience. This passage helps to show the power of persuasive speech. Works Cited Gorgias. Encomium of Helen. Print.
“The Onion’s” mock press release on the MagnaSoles satirical article effectively attacks the rhetorical devices, ethos and logos, used by companies to demonstrate how far advertisers will go to convince people to buy their products. It does this by using manipulative, “scientific-sounding" terminology, comparisons, fabrication, and hyperboles.
In 102 Minutes, Chapter 7, authors Dwyer and Flynn use ethos, logos, and pathos to appeal to the readers’ consciences, minds and hearts regarding what happened to the people inside the Twin Towers on 9/11. Of particular interest are the following uses of the three appeals.
The fight for racial equality is one of the most prominent issues Americans have faced throughout history and even today; as the idea that enslaving individuals is unethical emerged, many great and innovative authors began writing about the issues that enslaved people had to face. Olaudah Equiano was no exception. In his work The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, he attempts to persuade his readers that the American way of slavery is brutal, inhumane, and unscrupulous. Equiano manages to do this by minimizing the apparent differences between himself and his primarily white audience, mentioning the cruelties that he and many other slaves had to face, and the advantages of treating your slaves correctly.
Samir Boussarhane During the early 20th century in the U.S, most children of the lower and middle class were workers. These children worked long, dangerous shifts that even an adult would find tiresome. On July 22, 1905, at a convention of the National Woman Suffrage Association in Philadelphia, Florence Kelley gave a famous speech regarding the extraneous child labor of the time. Kelley’s argument was to add laws to help the workers or abolish the practice completely.
Along with rhetorical appeals, Wiesel also uses many rhetorical devices such as parallelism and anaphora. Wiesel depicts parallelism when he says, “to fight fascism, to fight dictatorship, to fight Hitler” (Wiesel lines 103-104). The parallelism and anaphora, in the quote, provide emphasis on the discrimination and abuse that has taken place around the world. Repeating the same initial phrase shows the significance of the words Wiesel is speaking. Wiesel mentions the victims of this extreme tragedy when he states,” for the children in the world, for the homeless for the victims of injustice, the victims of destiny and society.” (Wiesel lines 17-19). This use of anaphora and parallelism emphasize the amount of people the Holocaust has affected and impacted. The parallelism being used adds value to his opinions and balances the list of people Wiesel is making in his speech.
Florence Kelley was a social and political reformer that fought for woman’s suffrage and child labor laws. Her speech to the National American Woman’s Suffrage Association initiated a call to action for the reform of child labor laws. She explains how young children worked long and exhausting hours during the night and how despicable these work conditions were. Kelley’s use of ethos, logos, pathos, and repetition helps her establish her argument for the reform of the child labor laws.
...hoices in her favor. The examples show, Iago took their free will and used it as an advantage to carry out his plans.
I chose this word because the tone of the first chapter seems rather dark. We hear stories of the hopes with which the Puritans arrived in the new world; however, these hopes quickly turned dark because the Purtains found that the first buildings they needed to create were a prison, which alludes to the sins they committed; and a cemetery, which contradicts the new life they hoped to create for themselves.
Prevailing Purposes in “The Crucible” Playwright and essayist, Arthur Miller, in his play, “The Crucible”, utilizes pathos, symbolism, and irony to convey his purpose of how the events of the Salem Witch Trials had detrimental effects on the society and how far the elites went to protect their reputation . Miller’s reasoning is to expand Parris’ and Danforth purpose for their side of the argument during the witch trials. He adapts a contrasting tone in order to appeal to similar feelings with reasoning in his american readers.
The Trojan War was incited by Paris’ theft of Menelaus’ wife. This is the first, and only, breach of xenia in all of the Iliad, with good cause. Paris was Menelaus’ guest but chose to steal Menelaus’ wife and much of his riches instead of honoring xenia as he should have. Paris’ transgression against xenia is what initially agitated Menelaus’. Although this act is not explicitly pictured in the Iliad, the Trojan War is essentially the fallout of Paris’ breach of xenia and without his infraction, many lives
Hera despises the Trojans, and in order to bring suffering and pain upon the Trojans she offers Zeus the destruction of her most beloved cities. Hera states, “the three cities that I love best of all are Argos and Sparta, Mycenae with streets as broad as Troy’s. Raze them, whenever they stir the hatred in your heart” (4.60-62). This goddess offers the destruction of these cities along with their people in order to obtain Zeus’ permission to bring misery to the city of Troy, saying that “I will never rise in their defense” (4.63). Such an action demonstrates the cruelty of the gods, not caring about the harm they are bringing to the mortals as long as they are satisfying their desires. Hera’s hatred for the Trojans leads her to bring more suffering not only to the Trojans, but also to her beloved Greeks forcing the Trojans to break their oath results in the continuation of the Trojan War. Therefore, the interference of the gods is an important aspect of The Iliad, demonstrating to the reader the personality of the gods as well as showing that the meddling of the gods conducts the course of the Trojan
The suspected start of the war- over the abduction of Helen, Queen of Sparta- was caused entirely by a godly conflict over who was the most beautiful- Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite. Paris, son of King Priam of Troy, was selected to judge. He chose Aphro...
Hector insults Paris in front of all of Troy. Paris is deeply ashamed and decides to fight the duel. Troy rejoices because if Paris defeats Menelaos, it would be a tremendous victory for Troy, however, if Paris is defeated, Helen is returned and therefore a truce would be reached and the war would be over.
Paris betraying the Trojans because he would not give up Helen which made the Trojans keep fighting is an example of love causing betrayal. Many say that Paris is just being selfish for doing this because he incited a war. Helen was Menelaus’ wife so that made him extremely mad and that is what started the war. Some people even believe that was his strategy. If that is true, it was not very smart and made him look like a dolt.
In the poem the Iliad, Aphrodite helps Paris kidnap Helen by offering Helen’s hand to Paris, during his judgment. Although the Judgment of Paris happens prior to the Iliad, there is no mention of Aphrodite in the movie, Troy at all. Excluding the Goddess of Love from the movie, takes away the intensity of the love connection between Paris and Helen. Stephen Scully (in Winkler, p. 120) cites “the absence of divine machinery is one of the reasons (together with the film’s mundane dialogue) why Troy fails to achieve epic greatness.” This union was created by a Goddess, making it supernatural, they loved each other so much, that the young lovers started a