Isocrates Encomium of Helen

Believing that Gorgias’s Encomium of Helen was done very poorly, Isocrates criticizes the prideful praise offered by Sophists and gives instead what he considers a far superior example of how an encomium should be delivered. His introduction seems a bit harsh to me, as he states that it is much better to have a complete opinion on useful things than it is to have mediocre awareness of useless things and that these people only want to get rich off of the young men paying them. Though wasn’t Isocrates also charging his students and attracting students (and therefore their money) with speeches such as this? Similarly, Isocrates claims that those who had formerly written praises of Helen only praised her beauty and thus defended her. He then states that his discourse is the opposite, so I expected something very different from the almost over-the-top praise of Helen’s beauty that followed.

Already feeling less than persuaded (partially because of his rather vain criticism of the others), the beginning of the disclosure in which Isocrates discusses Helen’s family did not hook me. He explained that Helen was offered the gift of beauty which is more powerful even than strength because beauty is the force that persuades strength. It seems that to be the universal object of contention is a prize, but this much admiration could just as easily be viewed as a curse. This would make me feel pressured, and not blessed. And there’s often a strange sense of entitlement especially associated with beauty that does not always lead to pleasant actions.

From this discussion of her beauty, the discourse turns almost entirely to Theseus. Perfect Theseus who had wisdom, courage, and virtue was worthy of Helen’s admiration. Today, this concept is referred to by social psychologists as “the matching phenomenon.” Among couples, people usually pair up with someone of equal attractiveness. Those who might be less attractive compensate with another resource, often money, power, or status.

Because he does not like to do things half-way, Isocrates goes on to further speak of the deeds of Theseus. Perhaps it is my lack of knowledge of their story, but the mythology seems to turn political and in reading it I’d almost forgotten about Helen.

After another long dwelling on Theseus’s passing, Isocrates returns again to Helen’s beauty reminding listeners that beauty is the “most precious, and most divine of all things” (54). Again, I find I disagree. I hope beauty is not always more powerful than will. And I like to think that virtues such as wisdom, bravery, kindness, and joy are more divine than uncontrollable beauty. But it is true that humans tend to be more likely to treat the beautiful with kindness upon first sight. . Another labeled stereotype exists called the “what is beautiful is good” stereotype. People still tend to think that attractive people are more likable. A study by Donald Sacco, Kurt Hugenberg, and Elizabeth Kiel examined this concept by testing whether facial attractiveness impacted helping behavior beliefs. They found that simply judging by a person’s facial structure, participants made set predictions on how that person would help another person (Social Psychology 2014). With as much as beauty is studied today, perhaps Isocrates is justified in his praise of her beauty.

Finally, Isocrates claims that Helen is responsible for the lack of the people being slaves to barbarians. But like the clever teacher he was, he concludes in the same manner many research papers conclude today. This study only leads to more studies, and there is ample opportunity to continue to praise Helen.

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