I believe that natural talent was such a popular discussion during the Classical Period because it was perceived that people were born into a certain social class or born with a certain amount of virtue. Therefore many people in the Classical Period would have believed that people are born with certain talents and or skills rather than learning/acquiring  them. I think that we find discussions of natural talent more in athletics rather than academics today because of the study of genetics. Some people have a natural gift or ability in a certain sport or physical event and that is easy to see because everyone else is able to see them compete in this sport or activity. I believe that people are born with the same scholarly talents but it is harder to see because we cannot see what people are thinking.

Plato is concerned with the difference between mere belief and true knowledge because he believes that the truth can often be persuaded, and sometimes cause an injustice. He believes that rhetoric can be used to persuade people to believe something, which may or may not be completely true, by using words. This is similar to how Gorgias thought that rhetoric was like magic and that he was able to persuade people by using it. This lead Plato to believe that rhetoric was like flattery because it was good in the short-term, but not in the long-term. He believed that rhetoric was not a true art and did not come from a true knowledge or skillset.

In The Gorgias, rhetoric is described as flattery. This is because it looks good, sounds good, etc. but does not improve neither your the body nor soul. He defines rhetoric as only good in the short-term. Furthermore, rhetoric is concerned with discourse. Rhetoric is concerned with making men able to speak and understand what they are speaking. Plato describes rhetoric to be useless, but he would not have been able to write The Gorgias and get his point across without using rhetoric. Rhetoric studies the way in which we use words and display a point.

Gorgias uses rhetoric, through his speaking, in the art of persuasion. This definition and purpose of rhetoric is similar to that of the other sophist’s definition because it is similar to Disoi Logoi. Disoi Logoi is the method of creating contradictory arguments, therefore by using persuasion one may be able to argue one side of an argument more effectively. My definition of rhetoric is starting to grow from how we describe things to how we can describe arguments and create multiple arguments to support a claim. Therefore, my growing definition of rhetoric is becoming similar to the definition and purpose of rhetoric used by Gorgias.

In his Encomium, Gorgias is trying to show the usefulness of using rhetoric to generate multiple viewpoints and make multiple claims/arguments about a specific case. The way the Encomium is structures is also a good teaching tool for how to create arguments on a case. It is structured by using an opening statement, then listing the facts, creating arguments and support and a conclusion. This structure can teach students the process for creating multiple arguments about a specific case.

Personally, I admire the sophists because they did not conform to social norms. They would not hesitate to question any assumptions of Greek society. Furthermore, they also taught others how to use dialect and writing to question these same assumptions. Today, the sophists would describe themselves as social or political figures that question the norms in today’s society. We see modern-day sophists in the millennial generation that we live in today. They differ from a modern day college professor because they teach through dialect, using opposing arguments, whereas teachers try to explain the context of a situation to us. The sophists and modern day professors are similar in that they both want us to think critically and always question things to get a firm understanding of them. They were controversial in ancient Greece because many Athenians had doubts that the sophists could really teach virtue/ truth and that they understood justice. They would be very controversial today because there are many social/politcal groups today that are doing similar things that they did a very long time ago.

A theme that I have seen constantly emerge in our reading is education from the sophists. The sophists taught by using the method of dialectic, which was to create arguments for both sides of a controversy. This method of using contradictory arguments coined the name Dissoi Logoi. Gorgias, a famous sophist, thought that through the power of rhetoric he can use persuasion (peitho) as a way to deceive people into something. It has been said that Gorgias was able to persuade men to become slaves through the use of rhetoric without using force.

I think the theme of using rhetoric to create arguments and persuade people is a very interesting.

http://ancient-greece.org/architecture/parthenon2.html

http://www.ancient.eu/parthenon/

Herricks CH 2:

-Major Figures: Empedocles, Hieron, Solon, Plato, Gorgias.

-Greek Values: Politics (Democracy), education, courts & assemblies.

Intro to Greek Rhetoric:

-Majore Figures: Plato, Aristotle, Corax, Tisias,

-Greek Values: Slavery (warfare provided a means to have slaves), Democracy, education, religion.