Natural talent can be loosely defined as an innate ability to perform a certain skill or set of skills. In Ancient Greece, we can see Greek philosophers and sophists teaching and questioning natural talent. From Greek Hellenism, we can gather that this idea of natural talent was thought of as a gift from the gods. However, Isocrates in “Against the Sophists” talks about how those with natural talent have developed their skill though practical experience. This ties into the general theme of this era in Greek history where many people were starting to question the gods and religion.

The idea of natural talent started to become a topic of debate as education started to become more readily available for Greek citizens. People started to question if it was possible to learn and master a skill rather than having to be born with the natural ability to perform the skill. For citizens looking to develop their oratory skills so they could rise in the Greek hierarchy, this was especially important. Rather than being born into aristocracy, was it possible to develop your skills and rise to prominence?

Even today we ask similar questions about natural talent. In particular, sports and athletics typically seem to be the area where this comes into question. We can see most people, with discipline and practice, have the ability to learn a sport and master it. However, there are those that a simply physically better suited to perform certain sports. For example, Michael Phelps’ body is naturally suited for swimming due to his physical features being more hydrodynamic than the average person. We can also see this phenomenon in politicians and leaders today. Some people are simply naturally better at persuasion and leadership, however that doesn’t mean everyone can’t develop these skills. Natural talent has been an ongoing topic of debate since ancient times, so by this we can at least see that there may be some validity to the idea.

Help Received: “Against the Sophists”

From this week’s readings on Gorgias and “Rhetoric and Display”, I’ve gathered that rhetoric of display is the use of rhetoric to exploit physical beauty, societal ideals, and in general the embellishment of language to accomplish gaining the favor of an audience. Some examples of this were the praise of fallen soldiers as heroes in order to justify the conflicts the Greeks were engaged in and the use of speeches at public events, such as festivals and athletic events, to further push the Greek doxa, or cultural values.

After revisiting my artifact, the vase depicting the Greek school, I can confidently say that the vase could be considered an example of rhetoric of display. The vase depicts a key part of ancient Greek society, pursuit of knowledge and further education. In the case of this vase, we can assume the maker was attempting to give praise to the Greeks’ love of the arts and study. As rhetoric, can be used to convince us that the ancient Greeks were an advanced and sophisticated society, one which we should draw from to learn. However, even more beneficial to the Greeks, by trading this to other city states or empires, the Greeks could spread the view that Greece was a highly advanced society with highly educated citizens. This could be used to persuade these other peoples to travel to and trade with the Greeks, resulting in more commerce and wealth for Greece. We can tie this back to Isocrates where he used rhetoric as a means to help the community, rather than for personal advancement.

To the untrained eye, this is just an old pot, but to those of us that recognize rhetoric and its forms and uses, we can see a strategic avenue of persuasion used to help uphold Greek doxa and promote commerce throughout the old world.

Help Received: Gorgias Readings and “Rhetoric and Display”

Gorgias was notable philosopher and sophist from Sicily, the possible birth place of rhetoric. In 427, he traveled to Greece where he became popular and did most of his teaching. His teachings of rhetoric seem to be focused on the power of persuasion and language. We can see this in his “Encomium of Helen” where he attempts to argue in defense of Helen’s actions that led to the Trojan War, in particular when he asserts that Paris’ persuasion was to blame and that Helen couldn’t have resisted.

Essentially, Gorgias thought of rhetoric as a tool used to manipulate and influence people to reach a desired outcome. This lines up well with the views of other sophists during the time who sought to teach rhetoric so that their pupils could better argue in court or gain influence and power in the democratic system. Gorgias draws parallels between language and drugs, stating that just as different drugs are used to experience different types of highs, different types and techniques of language and persuasion can be used to reach different outcomes, such as fear, anger, pride, and so on.

Although my view of rhetoric has been rather neutral since the beginning of the semester, I have been leaning toward the view that rhetoric is primarily a tool of influence to gain a desired outcome. After reading excerpts of “Encomium of Helen” and various analyses of Gorgias and his theories, my views have shifted more toward the idea that rhetoric has more power than most people realize. When used effectively, rhetoric can be used to change people’s thoughts, thus resulting in a change in their actions. This can be either extremely beneficial to society or detrimental if used maliciously.

In “Encomium of Helen”, Gorgias attempts to argue that Helen was not to blame for the outbreak of the Trojan War. He analyzes 4 ways Helen couldn’t have been responsible: the gods’ intervention, physical intimidation by Paris, persuasion by Paris, and the influence of love. Essentially, it’s not important whether or not she was responsible or not, the purpose behind this work was to show that you can argue the worst case, a teaching that other sophists of the time used. It was also an advertisement for Gorgias’ skill in rhetoric that he could’ve used to attract more students. Overall, “Encomium of Helen” was a way Gorgias could show just how powerful rhetoric and the power of language can be.

Help Received: Gorgias Readings

Artifact Research

                Using Image Quest, I searched through countless pictures of Ancient Greek sculptures, pots, and architecture. After a long search, I was rewarded with this picture of a vase depicting students at a Greek school. The creator is unknown, but the vase can be found at the Staatliche Museum in Berlin.

Although I could’ve easily picked the first picture of pottery or sculpture I saw, I knew I wanted to find something that would easily tie into our class discussions and assigned readings. This vase fits my criteria almost perfectly. Depicted on the vase are students of a Greek school practicing music and writing. In the readings, the Greeks were described as a people that valued the arts and as we can see, this vase reflects that. The Greeks valued democracy and the participation of their citizens in the democratic process. However, in order to participate effectively, the Greeks pursued study of the arts such as writing, speech, and music. These allowed the Greeks to convey their views and have constructive discourse, leading to the development of the Greek democratic system.

Where this ties into our studies in rhetoric is how rhetoric was a key area of study for students looking to get involved in the democratic system, whether for the sake of democracy or a personal quest for influence. The Greek Sophists traveled from city to city, teaching art and rhetoric to those who could afford their services, much like the depiction on the vase.

Masters and pupils at the Athenian school where studies included music. Greek red figure vessel . Staatliche Museum Berlin

Works Cited

Masters and pupils at the Athenian school where studies included music. Greek red figure vessel . Staatliche Museum Berlin. Photography. Britannica ImageQuest, Encyclopædia Britannica, 25 May 2016.
quest.eb.com/search/300_2285431/1/300_2285431/cite. Accessed 11 Sep 2017.

In class, I defined rhetoric as the art of argumentation through speech and writing, particularly through the use of the three main rhetorical strategies: ethos, logos, and pathos. However, after discussing various definitions from classmates, listening to MAJ Garriott lecture, and reading the Losh et al Understanding Rhetoric excerpts, my view of how rhetoric can be defined has been altered. Rhetoric isn’t just about argumentation in an essay, but is an extensive strategy in which speakers or writers convey and present viewpoints and ideas.

Over the years, my views on rhetoric have primarily come from how I’ve been taught to use it in argumentative essays and how the media presents it as an all talk no action strategy for politicians. After being asked to define it and then discussing how it can be defined, I have realized that rhetoric is a much more broad and complex strategy of communicating. Rather than just a tool to convince an audience of a view point, rhetoric can be used to aid debate and reaching compromise in issues by allowing different viewpoints to be hear and understood. Where I once saw rhetoric as a focused strategy, I now see it as a broad technique with multiple uses.