Hello,

Being that my three artifacts are all statues, the only way they contribute to the rhetoric of Sparta is through display. At first I figured that in order to understand what ancient Sparta was like, we must look at the dominant and prevalent features of the people, and draw conclusions. What sticks out most, and what does it mean. However, now, due to the idea of Excess and Exaggeration, as well as Dominant Values, I am cautious to assume the amount of validity in the statues.

For example, the legs of the young women are clearly very strong, insinuating Spartans may have believed all citizens should be equal physically. Or the hoplite soldier, who is exposed from the waste down. Not all statues have this trait, so this may convey that men were thought to be the only ones who should go and fight.

Yet, maybe these take aways are not entirely true. Now I see that these statues may be over emphasizing parts of the culture, or mis representing them as well. The image of the angry fighting hoplite may be just a tool to exaggerate the Spartan’s idea of a dominant value or trait. Sadly there are not enough statues preserved to solve this problem, but we must be cautious nonetheless.

I now see that I must keep my emotions in check, and look at the argument from multiple stand points, because, as Protagerous says, dissoi logoi matters, and everything has another side. What you see at first may not be what is actually true.

Hello,

1. In my opinion, Gorgias embraces the sophistic philosophy because, as the reading states, his speeches and discussions not only challenged the audience mentally, but it roused them emotionally. It pushed them to participate, and that is what rhetoric and democracy is all about. Furthermore, he thought it was our duty and right as citizens to question things, furthering the idea of discussion, debate, and democracy.
2. For my own definition, Gorgias affirms much of it, yet the idea of it being a duty to refute something through normos, observing Dissoi Logoi, and forming an antithesis was new to me. It makes sense however, when you apply this thought process to a democracy, which functions off its people’s voice.
3. I believe that Gorgias, through his defense of Helen, is conveying to us, and at the same time backing up Protagoras, that every argument one, matters, and two, has multiple sides to it. However, he also is pointing out that we may never truly be able to know whether something is true or real, but we must discuss it anyway.

hello,

there are more than five because of the volume of reading. Sorry!

Hello,

1. Since the spartan culture was rather independent of other nations, and furthermore looked down upon writing and other forms of rhetoric, artifacts pertaining to my thesis were hard to find. Consequently, I had to improvise and will use these three statues to answer a three part thesis. The first shows a Spartan officer on guard. The Second shows a hoplite in battle. The third depicts an athlete who is a girl.
2. The first two images were taken from The Spartans: The World of The Warrior-Heroes of Ancient Greece by Paul Cartledge, page 68. The third was taken from Spartan Reflections by Paul Cartledge, page 180.
3. The Spartans were a dominant force in ancient Greece. They were fierce warriors and implemented values and morals that should be applied to todays society, for example, respect for women. When compared with the rest of ancient Greece, the Spartan culture contained many similar types of forward thinking/”democratic.” This, along with their regional might, and the ironic fact that their downfall came through refusal to change, the Spartans must be studied to understand the impact of that rhetorical success and failure can have on a nation.
4. I personally selected this topic, and these statues because, based on what I know now, the Spartan culture is one to admire. I respect their ferocity on the battlefield, I admire the discipline they had as a nation, and I long for their beliefs regarding women to be applied to today’s society. There was good and bad with the Spartans, but if studied correctly, and looked at through the correct context and thesis, I believe I can become more aware of the Spartan lifestyle, implement it in my own life, and therefore hopefully impact society in some way, and change some things for the better.

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Hello,

these are my annotations for Ch.1 and all of the comic book. I attached more than 5 so that I could possibly get back more feedback in order better my annotations more effectively.