Quote: "Speech is a powerful lord, which by means of the finest and most invisible body effects the divinest works: it can stop fear and banish grief and create joy and nurture pity." (Gorgias, Encomium of Helen)
Question: After reading Gorgias' defense, did you feel pity or empathy for Helen? Did Gorgias' play to human emotion persuade you one way or the other?
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ReplyDeleteAfter I finished Gorgias, Encomium of Helen I could only feel bad for Helen. She was abused, not only physically, but mentally. She trusted in the person she loved and got punished for it. As it says in the reading, she was "... seduced, or by love possessed." Basically she allowed her emotions to cloud her good judgment and paid the price for it. Although it was Helens decision to leave in the first place, Gorgias' writing and play to emotion gets the reader to not only pity Helen, but to develop hate for the man who committed the crimes against her. By taking this approach we as the reader not only sympathize with Helen, but with Gorgia and her views on the events in the story that took place.
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