Numero Uno
5
Gorgias, Isocrates, and Protagorus
Three guys came together and changed the way we thought about rhetoric forever. They influenced future theories both positively and negatively. They were taught by and taught some of the most influential philosophers around and they all seemed to be pretty cool guys.
Gorgias (his head is directly to the right) is one chill dude. He relayed rhetoric to magic, referencing that it was "like a drug". He took from mostly poetry, most of his writing was rhyming, and he was a practicing Sophist. His main text was the Econium of Helen and in this text he logos, the appeal to logic, into persuasion and poetry (44). He may be considered to be the most admired Sophist and most importantly he is the father of epidectic, or ceremonial speaking (45). Ceremonial speaking funtions as a tool to unify. Examlpes of this include a speach at a funeral, a graduation address, or even the head of a non-profit at a charity auction. Gorgias is one of the most flexible philosophers, as he didn't see there to be a certain critereon for anything, since there are things we can never know for sure.
Protagoras was a metic, a foreigner living in an ancient greek city, and a diplomat. He spent his life arguing that "subject determines thoughts and perceptions" (41). While he may not have been the most popular Sophist of the bunch, he was definitely the most influential and also one of the first. He was a teacher who created leaders in the community "who would convince others of the better probabilities in the world" (42). His teachings and ideals later sparked controversy with Plato, as he felt Protagoras and other Sophists created these leaders only for the use of effective negative rhetoric. However, Protagoras made sure that it was known he was adament about enstilling one main thing into his pupils, which was virtue.
Isocrates was a lesser known Sophist who studied with Protagoras and Gorgias. He used the parts of the human body as a metaphor to show the different parts of speach, with the head equalling the introduction and so on (47). Isocrates felt that rhetoric can lead people to their higher destiny and that imitation is the key to good rhetoric. He advises that students look at and memorize the speeches of great speakers and rulers and you too can become a good speaker and ruler.