Source edition
Gorgias. Antiphontis orationes et fragmenta adiunctis Gorgiae, Antisthenis, Alcidamantis declamationibus. Blass, Friedrich, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1908.
Source data
Perseus Digital Library · CC BY-SA 4.0
Cloned and adapted by Humanitext, with ongoing edits.
Summary
This work is a rhetorical oration written to defend Helen, the beautiful woman infamous for causing the Trojan War, and to clear her tarnished reputation. The author, Gorgias, structures his argument by dividing the reasons for Helen's departure from Sparta into four irresistible forces: divine will, physical violence, speech (logos), and love. In the first part, he demonstrates that if her departure was due to fate, the gods' decrees, or abduction by force, she cannot be held responsible. The middle section focuses on the immense power of speech (logos), analyzing how it manipulates human opinion (doxa) and constrains the soul like a powerful drug. Finally, he presents love as the fourth factor, arguing that she is innocent because of the unavoidable impact that sight exerts upon the soul. Through this systematic analysis of the four causes, the speech concludes that Helen is entirely blameless.