Understanding the Magic of Gorgias Style:

Overloading Listeners Memory

While there are many theories attempting to explain the phenomena of
dj vu, the false recollection of familiarity initiated by visual cues,
most scientists agree that the experience is predominantly a function
of the temporal lobe non-dominant for language (Wild 5). Whether its
related to neurological miss-firings on a molecular level or
miscommunication between the short term and long term memories,
the elusive and bewitching feeling lingers on with those whove
experienced its spell. Similarly, sounds can appear magical to listeners,
as is said to be the case for Gorgias audiences. In this paper, I suggest
that the magic induced by Gorgias stylistic speech the Encomium of
Helen was related to cerebral disconnects caused by his verbosity,
obsessive antitheses, and length that would overload even the most
attentive listener.
Gorgias reputation among his peers and subsequent scholars has not
always reflected well upon him. Often described as using figures of
speech excessively and exploitatively (Murphy 41, Kennedy 34),
Gorgias consciously attempted to manipulate his listeners reactions
using sound (Murphy 42). Having studied with the poet, Pindar, Gorgias
emphasized the rhetorical devices and rhythms of poetry, and
encouraged his students to write in a similar style (Murphy 38, 41) He
liked to juxtapose ideas against one other to create drama (Murphy
41), constantly aware of the beauty and tragedy in the world. His style
has been considered overly antithetical and symmetrical in structure
and overly alliterative and assonant in sound, but nevertheless
described as auditory spellbinding and capable of arousing sensual
pleasure (Bizzell 42). Gorgias can be regarded as having sought to

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create an elevated oratorical style for formal speech though at the

risk of drawing attention away from what he was saying to how he was
saying it (Kennedy 35).
This overemphasis on style is what earned Gorgias and other Sophists
much criticism. With the considerable use of such devices, and less
importance seemingly placed on truth or logos, audience members
could easily be persuaded by the suspiciously clever wit of an orator
like Gorgias. To understand how his speeches could result in a cerebral
buzz effect, or magic, let us briefly get some highlights of auditory
processing and memory.
To be fair, there is a lot of discrepancy among listening researchers
with varying hypotheses, primarily because there is no definitive way
to study listening and comprehension (Janusik 139). In 1980, Bostrom
and Bryant conducted a study of the effects of repetition, masking,
amount of information received, and time, on short term memory.
Short term memory involves pattern recognition among the sensory
input, and without being able to rehearse (verbally repeat) the
information, input can be lost within 15 seconds (Bostrom 139-140).
They found that long phrases were harder to remember, and in the
condition with masking, long phrases, and one-second pauses, a sharp
[drop] of retention was exhibited (Bostrom 143).
Later, working memory (WM) theory replaced the notion of short term
memory, claiming there to be two simultaneous tasks at work while
one is listening: focusing attention, and storing information. In order to
create meaning from input, one must be able to use the dual functions
of attention and storage (Janusik 142, Reuland S107). An extension of
WM theory is capacity theory, which supported through a functional
magnetic resonance instrument study, indicates that working memory
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is capacity restricted, and each individual has a unique capacity for

processing and storage functions (Janusik 142-143). Reuland breaks
down working memory into two further parts based on Ullmans
declarative-procedural model. Lexicon or content words are stored in
the declarative system, while grammar, whatever is rule-based in the
language, is stored in the procedural system. These two contrasting
systems can interact or overlap (Reuland S107).
Even in just those two paragraphs, one can see that there is a lot going
on that can affect a listeners ability to comprehend speech. The
listener must be paying attention to receive the input, decipher its
elements to be lexical or grammatical, compare it to stored knowledge
to create meaning, and be able to repeat it to himself in order to retain
it. Fortunately, the process is mostly unconscious (except for maybe
the paying attention part). The problem, however, arises when a
speech is outputting a lot of junk that listeners have to sort through.
Lets take a look at Gorgias Encomium of Helen for examples of junk
output.1
My favorite passage for the purpose of this paper is in the beginning,
when Gorgias details the family lineage of Helen of Troy.
Now it is not unclear, not even to a few, that in nature and
in blood the woman who is the subject of this speech is
preeminent among preeminent men and women. For it is
clear that her mother was Leda, and her father was in fact
a god, Zeus, but allegedly a mortal, Tyndareus, of whom
the former was shown to be her father because he was and
1 Unfortunately I do not read Greek; therefore all criticisms of Gorgias work in this
paper will be based on the English translations and the reviews of scholars. The author
recognizes that such ignorance could greatly affect the direction of this paper; however,
one has to work with what she has.
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the latter was disproved because he was said to be, and

the one was most powerful of men and the other lord of all.
(Kennedy 44)
Poetry may have a natural ability to aid in lexical access (Rapp 570), so
its hard to criticize the consonance of the letter n in the first line. In
fact, its melodic rhythm is almost subconsciously alluring. However,
Gorgias explanation of Helens patriarch is confusing at besthere we
are fortunate enough to be able to re-read it for comprehension, but
imagine as a first-time listener you heard her father was but
allegedly of whom the former was shown and the latter what?
The over-phrasing and juxtaposition leaves a listener scrambling to
coordinate the input with stored knowledge, processing what are
content words and grammatically what is happening, while still trying
to listen to stay on track. Plus rehearsing to reinforce what he just
heard! Short of providing a soap opera account of Helens family
history, all Gorgias really needed to say was her mother was Leda and
her father was Zeus. Below is another passage:
But if by violence she was defeated and unlawfully she was
treated, and to her justice was meted, clearly her violator
was importunate, while she, translated and violated, was
unfortunate. Therefore, the barbarian who legally, verbally,
actually attempted the barbarous attempt, should meet
with verbal accusation, legal reprobation and actual
condemnation. For Helen, who was violated and from her
fatherland separated, and from her friends segregated,
should justly meet with commiseration rather than with
defamation. For he was the victor and she the victim. It is
just, therefore, to sympathize with latter and to
anathematize the former. (Murphy 42)
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We have numerous examples of figures of speech tantalizing our

brains, including alliteration, parison, polyptoton,
homoeoteleuton, and chiasmus. The parallel placement of words
or sounds, repetition of length, and positing opposites against
each other both lull and jar the mind at the same time. The
listener must, amidst the continuing speech, extract the
pertinent informationwhich is more simply put, If Helen was
taken against her will and treated poorly, she is a victim and not
to blame. However, Gorgias ornate and dramatic style aims to
do more than convey information, but to make listeners swoon to
its rhythms. Rather than trudging through every phrase to
determine if it is essential, connecting it to stored knowledge and
repeating it for retention, it would seem easier as an audience
member to allow Gorgias speech to bewitch me, enjoying its
melodies. It sounds agreeable, therefore I must in the end agree
with what he says.
Whether or not complex material truly has an effect on a
listeners comprehension is up for study by psycholinguistic
researchers. But Janusik points out that an individual has the
capacity for only so much memory, so as a reader of Gorgias
Encomium of Helen, Im certain that my working memory would
be taxed to the max had the work been introduced to me orally.
And a taxed brain would probably hum a little extra with all that
exercise, effecting a buzzor warm, fuzzy, magical feeling.

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WORKS CITED
Bizzell, Patricia, and Bruce Herzberg. The Rhetorical Tradition:
Readings from Classical Times to the Present. 2nd ed. Boston:
Bedford/St. Martins. 2001. Print.
Bostrom, Robert N. and Carol L. Bryant. Factors in the Retention of
Information Presented Orally: The Role of Short-Term Listening. The
Western Journal of Speech Communication. 44 (1980). 137-145.
EBSCO. Web. February 13, 2011.
Janusik, Laura Ann. Building Listening Theory: The Validation of the
Conversational Listening Span. Communication Studies. 58:2 (2007).
139-156. EBSCO. Web. February 13, 2011.
Kennedy, George A. Classical Rhetoric and Its Christian and Secular
Tradition from Ancient to Modern Times. 2nd ed. Chapel Hill: University
of North Carolina Press. 1999. Print.
Murphy, James J., and Richard A. Katula. A Synoptic History of Classical
Rhetoric. 3rd ed. New York: Lawrence Earlbaum Associates, 2003.
Print.
Rapp, David N. A Reason to Rhyme: Phonological and Semantic
Influences on Lexical Access. Journal of Experimental Psychology:
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February 13, 2011.
Reuland, Eric. Imagination, Planning, and Working Memory: The
Emergence of Language. Current Anthropology. 51:S1 (2010). S99S110. EBSCO. Web. February 13, 2011.
Wild, Edward. The Neurological Significance of Dj Vu. Current
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February 13, 2011.

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