Analysis #1 Classical Antiquity

     In this skit, we see a prime example of a poor argument consisting of pure contradiction and no evidence or persuasive elements.  When contrasted with Gorgias’s “Econium of Helen” the difference between argumentation and well executed rhetoric becomes immediately apparent.  The two main characters of this skit are engaged in an argument, one of them even admitting that it is not necessarily a “good argument” in which neither is very persuasive to the other.  The characters merely contradict each other over and over in an effort to prove their respective points which seem to alter as the argument progresses.

     Instead of simply arguing back and forth in a series of “yes you did” and “no I didn’t” circular arguments as the two characters in the skit do, Gorgias makes a claim that Helen should be free of blame and then proceeds in his argument by stating the reasons as to why she shouldn’t be blamed.  He states that she was either in love, “persuaded by speech”, “ravished by force,” or “constrained by divine constraint.” This follow-through in his argument allows him to be far more convincing and effective than the two members of the skit.  As Gorgias states, persuasion must be added to speech in order to produce an influential argument.

There are only small glimpses in which the two actors employ any sort of use of rhetoric.  One of these times actually is in reference to rhetoric.  The actor argues, “An argument is a collective series of statements to establish a definite proposition,” but is quickly contradicted by a non-supported claim afterwards.  The only other instance that attempts at effective rhetoric is when one of the actors supplies an alternative argument for a claim made by the other actors.  One states that he has paid since they are still arguing and the other quickly refutes by offering the possibility that he could be arguing on his free time instead of as a result of payment.

Gorgias states many things about the power of speech, but the most notable might be:

The effect of speech upon the condition of the soul is comparable to the power of drugs over the nature of bodies. For just as different drugs dispel different secretions form the body, and some bring an end to disease and others to life, so also in the case of speeches, some distress, others delight, some cause fear, others make the hearers bold, and some drug and bewitch the soul with a kind of evil persuasion.

Indeed, the speech the characters participate does act as an effect on the condition of one of the actors.  He becomes flustered and most certainly “distressed” and at times “bold” due to his frustration with the inaccuracy of the speeches being presented to him.  The effect can also be quite confusing and disorienting for anyone viewing the clip if they are unaware of what is occurring in the scene.


Works Cited



Benthecartoon. "Monty Python Argument Clinic." Web. March 15 2011.

Gorgias “Econium of Helen" (1927). Print. New York:W.W. Norton & Company.