What’s Helen to Gorgias?

One of the challenges of reading Gorgias’ “Encomium of Helen” is working out why he takes the trouble to defend the reputation of a fictional character: it’s a bit like someone standing up to celebrate Scrooge or pour scorn upon Santa Claus.

Reread Gorgias (link), then consider the following:

1. When King says repeatedly “Now is the time…. Now is the time….” we get the sense that he was responding to an audience that thought now was not the time to address the longstanding legacy of slavery. Similarly when King says “We cannot be satisfied…. We cannot be satisfied….” he’s writing for people who thought that Black Americans should be satisfied with the progress made so far. By a similar logic, what beliefs about Helen, would you guess, is Gorgias responding to? In your answer, point to a specific passage in his speech.
2. Based on Bernard Evslin’s summary of Helen’s life (Gods, Demigods and Demons, pp 89-91) give a brief summary of the argument you’d make for Helen’s innocence before present-day jury.
3. What sort of precedent does Gorgias set in ¶6 of his speech, when he speaks of the power of fate in human affairs? Do subsequent ¶s make this precedent better or worse? To put it another way, if we agree with Gorgias that Helen should go free, how might that reasoning impact our future legal decisions?

Answer ONE of these questions in a short ¶ and post it in the comments below. Please reload the page before posting, so your answer doesn’t simply duplicate someone else’s answer.