Gorgias

(485-380 B.C)
👉Gorgias
● Sicilian philosopher, orator and rhetorician.

● refers to an important representative of rhetoric

● he portrayed as the eminence grise of Greek

rhetoric
 👉Gorgias
● one of the founders of sophism

● Sophists are itinerant teacher

who accepted fees in returned to
instruction in oratory and rhetoric
×
● they have the ability to make the
weaker argument stronger

3
 👉LIFE OF GORGIAS
● Born 485 BC in Leontini Sicily
● Father Charmantides
● Siblings (Herodicus and unnamed sister)

4
👉LIFE OF GORGIAS
EDUCATION
× Tsias
× Corax of Syracuse
× Empedocles
ATHENS
× 427 B.C. left for Athens to ask for
Athenians protection
× He made the Athenians provide military
assistance
5
● He was itinerant, he travelled around Greece speaking
everywhere to the audience

● In 392 B.C. he was invited as the main speaker at a

national gathering like Games at Olympia

● His speech was characterized by poetic expressiveness.

● For fee he taught young men from wealthy families to

speak and think logically. Critias, Menos, Isocrates and
Aspasia.
👉LIFE OF GORGIAS
6
👉LIFE OF GORGIAS

• One of the first speaker of a new type not only a

practitioner but also a theorist of eloquence.
Philostratus recounts that Gorgias began the practice of
Extemporaneous oratory or impromptu.

• Gorgias refuted to have lived to be over 100 years, he

died at Larissa in Thessaly.

7
👉THOUGHTS AND WORKS
× Introduce rhetorical innovation involving structure and
ornamentation and paradoxology

× Father of Sophistry

× His writings are both rhetorical and performative,

exhibiting his ability to make a weak argument appears
strong.
8
 👉THOUGHTS AND WORKS
× It’s performative argument is exemplified by the way he
playfully approaches each arguments with stylistic devices
such as parody, artificial figuration and theatrically.

× Style of argument can be described as poetics-minus-the-

meter.
× He argues that persuasive words have power equivalent to
that of Gods and as strong as physical force.

9
× “magical incantations” could bring healing.

× His florid, rhyming style seemed to almost hypnotized his

audience and his power of persuasion.

× He had somewhat supernatural influence over his audience and

their emotions.

× “the duty of the same man both declare what he should rightly
and refuse what has been spoken falsely.

👉THOUGHTS AND WORKS

10
RHETORIC AND ORATORY WORKS
👉ENCOMIUM OF HELEN
- epideictic speech
- expressing praise for and absolving
her responsibility for causing Trojan
War.
- He discussed the possible reasons for
Helen’s behaviour.

11
 👉DEFENSE OF
PALAMEDES
- a performative speech that
shows how plausible arguments can
cause an audience to doubt
conventional truths.

- presented as legal self defense in

a trial setting of Palamedes.

12
👉ON NATURE, OR THE NON-EXISTENCE
- original copy has been lost

Demonstrates that

1) Nothing exists;
2) Even if existence exists, it cannot be known;
3) Even if it could be known, it cannot be communicated.

13
👉CRITICS
○ PLATO
- Plato argued that Gorgias was not true
philosopher
- Gorgias as an orator who entertain audience with
eloquent words
- Who believed that it is unnecessary to learned
the truth about actual matters when one has
discovered the art of persuasion
14
👉CRITICS
○ ARISTOTLE
- He called Gorgias a mere Sophist whose primary
goal was to make money.
👉“Just as different drugs impact different
humours in the body- some stopping a
disease, others ending life, so are words.
Some words cause pain, others joy, some
strike fear, some galvanize people into
action while others, benumb and bewitch
the soul with evil thoughts,” 
- Gorgias (485-380 B.C.)

16