Gorgias’ and Isocrates’ use of the encomium

Abstract

This essay compares the Encomium of Helen by Gorgias and the Helen of Isocrates in order to show how epideictic rhetoric in general and the encomium in particular were conceived at the beginning of the history of rhetoric. The analysis suggests that during the late fifth and early fourth centuries B.C., genres were not rigid molds to be used mechanically but normative types sufficiently stable to warrant observance and sufficiently elastic to admit of varied treatment.