Wrongfully Accused: The Defense of Helen of Troy (Reflection #1)

        Ladies and Gentlemen of the Jury, Helen of Troy has been wrongly convicted of a crime in which she had absolutely no control of.  Today’s class discussion was very entertaining and educational.  Gorgias’ Encomium of Helen definitely persuaded me to believe that Helen was not responsible for the Trojan War.  Gorgias presents four arguments explaining why Helen is not accountable.  To begin with, he argues that the Gods are much stronger and powerful than the mortals.  He states, “God is a stronger force than man in might and in wit and in other ways.  If then one must place blame on Fate on a god, one must free Helen from disgrace” (39).  Since mortals are lesser beings, they cannot resist the power of the Gods and so must obey their commands.  He then argues that Helen has been persuaded by speech, which is as strong as the images in the mind.   He states, “speech Is a powerful master and achieves the most divine feats with the smallest and least evident body” (39).  He illustrates that sometimes the things you say can have as much of an impact as the things you imagine.  If she was ravished by force, then she was raped, therefore, making her free of blame.  Women did not obtain much influence or power over men during this period, therefore, even if Helen had vehemently denied going with Paris, she still would have complied.  This was due to the objectification of women by men.  Women were things to be taken and not free to make their own choices of whom to fall in love with.  He also argues that she was constrained by the divine; she was fated or pre-determined by the gods.  Therefore, in all arguments, she can be rendered blameless. 

        Also, I found Plato’s Allegory of the Cave to be very interesting and opened my mind to the different perspectives.  It was a very different way of looking at the idea that what we see and think is reality is only abstractions of the mind.  The idea of the world for prisoners is limited within the boundaries of the cave illustrates how there are so many things in the world that we have not been exposed.  It also illustrates the idea that we are not able to perceive the truth of nature because of our limited point of view.  If we open our eyes to all that surrounds us, we will have a better understanding of how to function in a complicated world.