Weekly Blog #1 Classical Literary Criticism

     It is interesting to see how Georgias of Leontini not only had a unique name, but had some unique views on speech. He differs from Plato's didactic view, which I found very interesting.  While most would look down upon wording ad phrasing that aims to persuade with no substane of truth, Gorgias praises it. He embraces rhetoric while Plato thinks it is utterly wrong. As he rose to be one of the most influential Sophists, we can see that there was definitely something approved and admired within his social construct and practice.
     How often do we hear that someone reads a poem and stands in awe; in agreement, but doesn't have a clue as to what it means? There is the same sort of appeal in the kind of speech pattern that Gorgias puts on a pedestal. Whether we admit it or not, there is a great commendation toward rhetoric; an approval and encouragement of it, because it has some sort of settling effect on us; a cathartic experience, and usually something to hold on to and root for at the end of a speech, for example.
      The diligent teacher is different then the great speaker. While both can collide, the teacher would have no place in rhetorical devices as a means to success, but truth revealed as a means to success. In the conviction, for example, of a stance in politics, he might spend more time researching and methodically revealing the information, while a rhetorical great speaker might spend more time on the wording and phrasing of the information, even if he had to say a speech on the spot, with little research done. He would use appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos for a strong argument, supporting what little solid facts he might have. In this scenario, the latter might easily be won by an audience of artists, but might lose in a group of politicians.
     In the case of Helen, not only do we have a speaker who is skilled with rhetoric, but a situation in which it is extremely unpolular and challanging to defend. The power of speech is highlighted here, however, to defend Helen quite eloquently.