There are some who are much pleased with themselves if, after setting up an absurd and
 self-contradictory subject, they succeed in discussing it in tolerable fashion; and men
 have grown old, some asserting that it is impossible to say, or to gainsay, what is
 false , or to speak on both sides of the
 same questions, others maintaining that courage and wisdom and justice are identical , and
 that we possess none of these as natural qualities, but that there is one sort of
 knowledge concerned with them all.; and still others waste their time in captious
 disputations that are not only entirely useless, but are sure to make trouble for their
 disciples.

For my part, if I observed that this futile affectation had arisen only recently in
 rhetoric and that these men were priding themselves upon the novelty of their inventions,
 I should not be surprised at them to such degree; but as it is, who is so backward in
 learning as not to know that Protagoras and the sophists of his time have left to us
 compositions of similar character and even far more overwrought than these?

For how could one surpass Gorgias , who dared to assert that nothing exists of
 the things that are, or Zeno , who ventured to prove the same things as
 possible and again as impossible, or Melissus who, although things in nature are infinite
 in number, made it his task to find proofs that the whole is one!

Nevertheless, although these men so clearly have shown that it is easy to contrive false
 statements on any subject that may be proposed, they still waste time on this commonplace.
 They ought to give up the use of this claptrap, which pretends to prove things by verbal
 quibbles, which in fact have long since been refuted, and to pursue the truth,

to instruct their pupils in the practical affairs of our government and train to
 expertness therein, bearing in mind that likely conjecture about useful things is far
 preferable to exact knowledge of the useless, and that to be a little superior in
 important things is of greater worth than to be pre-eminent in petty things that are
 without value for living.

But the truth is that these men care for naught save enriching themselves at the expense
 of the youth. It is their “philosophy” applied to eristic disputations that effectively produces this result; for these rhetoricians, who
 care nothing at all for either private or public affairs, take most pleasure in those
 discourses which are of no practical service in any particular.

These young men, to be sure, may well be pardoned for holding such views; for in all
 matters they are and always have been inclined toward what is extraordinary and
 astounding. But those who profess to give them training are deserving of censure because,
 while they condemn those who deceive in cases involving private contracts in business and
 those who are dishonest in what they say, yet they themselves are guilty of more
 reprehensible conduct; for the former wrong sundry other persons, but the latter inflict
 most injury upon their own pupils.

And they have caused mendacity to increase to such a degree that now certain men, seeing
 these persons prospering from such practices, have the effrontery to write that the life
 of beggars and exiles is more enviable than that of the rest of mankind, and they use this
 as a proof that, if they can speak ably on ignoble subjects, it follows that in dealing
 with subjects of real worth they would easily find abundance of arguments.

The most ridiculous thing of all, in my opinion, is this, that by these arguments they
 seek to convince us that they possess knowledge of the science of government, when they
 might be demonstrating it by actual work in their professed subject; for it is fitting
 that those who lay claim to learning and profess to be wise men should excel laymen and be
 better than they, not in fields neglected by everybody else, but where all are rivals.

But as it is, their conduct resembles that of an athlete who, although pretending to be
 the best of all athletes, enters a contest in which no one would condescend to meet him.
 For what sensible man would undertake to praise misfortunes? No, it is obvious that they
 take refuge in such topics because of weakness.

Such compositions follow one set road and this road is neither difficult to find, nor to
 learn, nor to imitate. On the other hand, discourses that are of general import, those
 that are trustworthy, and all of similar nature, are devised and expressed through the
 medium of a variety of forms and occasions of discourse whose opportune use is hard to
 learn, and their composition is more difficult as it is more arduous to practise dignity
 than buffoonery and seriousness than levity. The strongest proof is this:

no one who has chosen to praise bumble-bees and salt and kindred topics has never been at a loss
 for words, yet those who have essayed to speak on subjects recognized as good or noble, or
 of superior moral worth have all fallen far short of the possibilities which these
 subjects offer.

For it does not belong to the same mentality to do justice to both kinds of subjects; on
 the contrary, while it is easy by eloquence to overdo the trivial themes, it is difficult
 to reach the heights of greatness of the others ; and while on famous subjects one rarely
 finds thoughts which no one has previously uttered, yet on trifling and insignificant
 topics whatever the speaker may chance to say is entirely original.

This is the reason why, of those who have wished to discuss a subject with eloquence, I
 praise especially him who chose to write of Helen , because he has recalled to memory so remarkable a woman, one who in
 birth, and in beauty, and in renown far surpassed all others. Nevertheless, even he
 committed a slight inadvertence—for although he asserts that he has written an encomium of
 Helen, it turns out that he has actually spoken a defense of her conduct!

But the composition in defense does not draw upon the same topics as the encomium, nor
 indeed does it deal with actions of the same kind, but quite the contrary; for a plea in
 defense is appropriate only when the defendant is charged with a crime, whereas we praise
 those who excel in some good quality. But that I may not seem to be taking the easiest
 course, criticizing others without exhibiting any specimen of my own ,
 I will try to speak of this same woman, disregarding all that any others have said about
 her.

I will take as the beginning of my discourse the beginning of her family. For although
 Zeus begat very many of the demigods, of this woman alone he condescended to be called
 father. While he was devoted most of all to the son of Alcmena and to the sons of Leda , yet his preference for Helen, as compared with Heracles, was so
 great that, although he conferred upon his son strength of body, which is able to
 overpower all others by force, yet to her he gave the gift of beauty, which by its nature
 brings even strength itself into subjection to it.

And knowing that all distinction and renown accrue, not from a life of ease, but from
 wars and perilous combats, and since he wished, not only to exalt their persons to the
 gods, but also to bequeath to them glory that would be immortal, he gave his son a life of
 labors and love of perils, and to Helen he granted the gift of nature which drew the
 admiration of all beholders and which in all men inspired contention .

In the first place Theseus ,
 reputedly the son of Aegeus, but in reality the progeny of Poseidon, seeing Helen not as
 yet in the full bloom of her beauty, but already surpassing other maidens, was so
 captivated by her loveliness that he, accustomed as he was to subdue others, and although
 the possessor of a fatherland most great and a kingdom most secure, thought life was not
 worth living amid the blessings he already had unless he could enjoy intimacy with her.

And when he was unable to obtain her from her guardians—for they were awaiting her
 maturity and the fulfilment of the oracle which the Pythian priestess had given—scorning
 the royal power of Tyndareus ,
 disdaining the might of Castor and Pollux , and belittling all the hazards in Lacedaemon , he seized her by force and established her at Aphidna in Attica .

So grateful was Theseus to Peirithos, his partner in the abduction, that when Peirithos
 wished to woo Persephon, the daughter of Zeus and Demeter, and summoned him to the descent
 into Hades to obtain her, when Theseus found that he could not by his warnings dissuade
 his friend, although the danger was manifest he nevertheless accompanied him, for he was
 of opinion that he owed this debt of
 gratitude—to decline no task enjoined by Peirithos in return for his help in his own
 perilous enterprise.

If the achiever of these exploits had been an ordinary person and not one of the very
 distinguished, it would not yet be clear whether this discourse is an encomium of Helen or
 an accusation of Theseus; but as it is, while in the case of other men who have won renown
 we shall find that one is deficient in courage, another in wisdom, and another in some
 kindred virtue, yet this hero alone was lacking in naught, but had attained consummate
 virtue.

And it seems to me appropriate to speak of Theseus at still greater length; for I think
 this will be the strongest assurance for those who wish to praise Helen, if we can show
 that those who loved and admired her were themselves more deserving of admiration than
 other men. For contemporary events we should with good reason judge in accordance with our
 own opinions, but concerning events in times so remote it is fitting that we show our
 opinion to be in accord with the opinion of those men of wisdom who were at that time
 living.

The fairest praise that I can award to Theseus is this—that he, a contemporary of
 Heracles,won a fame which rivalled his. For they not only equipped themselves with similar
 armor, but followed the same pursuits, performing deeds that were worthy of their common
 origin. For being in birth the sons of brothers, the one of Zeus, the other of Poseidon,
 they cherished also kindred ambitions; for they alone of all who have lived before our
 time made themselves champions of human life.

It came to pass that Heracles undertook perilous labors more celebrated and more severe,
 Theseus those more useful, and to the Greeks of more vital importance. For example,
 Heracles was ordered by Eurystheus to bring the
 cattle from Erytheia and to obtain the apples of the Hesperides
 and to fetch Cerberus up from Hades and to perform other labors of that kind, labors which
 would bring no benefit to mankind, but only danger to himself;

Theseus, however, being his own master, gave preference to those struggles which would
 make him a benefactor of either the Greeks at large or of his native land. Thus, the bull
 let loose by Poseidon which was ravaging the land of Attica , a beast which all men lacked the courage to confront, Theseus
 singlehanded subdued, and set free the inhabitants of the city from great fear and
 anxiety.

And after this, allying himself with the Lapiths, he took the field against the Centaurs,
 those creatures of double nature, endowed with surpassing swiftness, strength, and daring,
 who were sacking, or about to sack, or were threatening, one city after another. These he
 conquered in battle and straightway put an end to their insolence, and not long thereafter
 he caused their race to disappear from the sight of men.

At about the same time appeared the monster reared in
 Crete , the offspring of Pasipha, daughter of
 Helius, to whom our city was sending, in accordance with an oracle's command, tribute of
 twice seven children. When Theseus saw these being led away, and the entire populace
 escorting them, to a death savage and foreseen, and being mourned as dead while yet
 living, he was so incensed that he thought it better to die than to live as ruler of a
 city that was compelled to pay to the enemy a tribute so lamentable.

Having embarked with them for Crete , he subdued
 this monster, half-man and half-bull, which possessed strength commensurate with its
 composite origin, and having rescued the children, he restored them to their parents, and
 thus freed the city from an obligation so savage, so terrible, and so ineluctable.

But I am at a loss how to deal with what remains to be said; for, now that I have taken
 up the deeds of Theseus and begun to speak of them, I hesitate to stop midway and leave
 unmentioned the lawlessness of Sciron and of Cercyon and of other robbers
 like them whom he fought and vanquished and thereby delivered the Greeks from many great
 calamities.

But, on the other hand, I perceive that I am being carried beyond the proper limits of my
 theme and I fear that some may think that I am more concerned with Theseus than with the
 subject which I originally chose . In this dilemma I prefer to omit the greater part of what might
 be said, out of regard for impatient hearers, and to give as concise an account as I can
 of the rest, that I may gratify both them and myself and not make a complete surrender to
 those whose habit it is out of jealousy to find fault with everything that is said.

His courage Theseus displayed in these perilous exploits which he hazarded alone; his
 knowledge of war in the battles he fought in company with the whole city; his piety toward
 the gods in connexion with the supplications of Adrastus and the children of Heracles
 when, by defeating the Peloponnesians in battle, he saved the lives of the children , and to
 Adrastus he restored for burial, despite the Thebans, the bodies of those who had died
 beneath the walls of the Cadmea ; and finally, he revealed his other
 virtues and his prudence, not only in the deeds already recited, but especially in the
 manner in which he governed our city.

For he saw that those who seek to rule their fellow-citizens by force are themselves the
 slaves of others, and that those who keep the lives of their fellow-citizens in peril
 themselves live in extreme fear, and are forced to make war, on the one hand, with the
 help of citizens against invaders from abroad, and, on the other hand, with the help of
 auxiliaries against their fellow citizens;

further, he saw them despoiling the temples of the gods, putting to death the best of
 their fellow-citizens, distrusting those nearest to them, living lives no more free from
 care than do men who in prison await their death; he saw that, although they are envied
 for their external blessings, yet in their own hearts they are more miserable than all
 other men—

for what, pray, is more grievous than to live in constant fear lest some bystander kill
 you, dreading no less your own guards than those who plot against you? Theseus, then,
 despising all these and considering such men to be not rulers, but pests, of their states,
 demonstrated that it is easy to exercise the supreme power and at the same time to enjoy
 as good relations as those who live as citizens on terms of perfect equality.

In the first place, the scattered settlements and villages of which the state was
 composed he united, and made Athens into a city-state so great that from then even to the present day it is the greatest
 state of Hellas : and after this, when he had
 established a common fatherland and had set free the minds of his fellow-citizens, he
 instituted for them on equal terms that rivalry of theirs for distinction based on merit,
 confident that he would stand out as their superior in any case, whether they practised
 that privilege or neglected it, and he also knew that honors bestowed by high-minded men
 are sweeter than those that are awarded by slaves . And he was so far from doing
 anything contrary to the will of the citizens

that he made the people masters of the government, and they on their part thought it best
 that he should rule alone, believing that his sole rule was more to be trusted and more
 equitable than their democracy. For he did not, as the other rulers did habitually, impose
 the labors upon the citizens and himself alone enjoy the pleasures; but the dangers he
 made his own, and the benefits he bestowed upon the people in common.

In consequence, Theseus passed his life beloved of his people and not the object of their
 plots, not preserving his sovereignty by means of alien military force, but protected, as
 by a bodyguard, by the goodwill of the citizens , by virtue of his authority ruling as a king,
 but by his benefactions as a popular leader; for so equitably and so well did he
 administer the city that even to this day traces of his clemency may be seen remaining in
 our institutions.

As for Helen, daughter of Zeus, who established her power over such excellence and
 sobriety, should she not be praised and honored, and regarded as far superior to all the
 women who have ever lived? For surely we shall never have a more trustworthy witness or
 more competent judge of Helen's good attributes than the opinion of Theseus. But lest I
 seem through poverty of ideas to be dwelling unduly upon the same theme and by misusing
 the glory of one man to be praising Helen, I wish now to review the subsequent events
 also.

After the descent of Theseus to Hades, when Helen returned to Lacedaemon , and was now of marriageable age, all the kings
 and potentates of that time formed of her the same opinion; for although it was possible
 for them in their own cities to wed women of the first rank, they disdained wedlock at
 home and went to Sparta to woo Helen.

And before it had yet been decided who was to be her husband and all her suitors still
 had an equal chance, it was so evident to all that Helen would be the object of armed
 contention that they met together and exchanged solemn pledges of assistance if anyone
 should attempt to take her away from him who had been adjudged worthy of winning her; for
 each thought he was providing this alliance for himself.

In this their private hope all, it is true, save one man, were disappointed, yet in the
 general opinion which all had formed concerning her no one was mistaken. For not much
 later when strife arose among the goddesses for the prize of beauty, and Alexander ,
 son of Priam, was appointed judge and when Hera offered him sovereignty over all Asia,
 Athena victory in war,

and Aphrodite Helen as his wife, finding himself unable to make a distinction regarding
 the charms of their persons, but overwhelmed by the sight of the goddesses, Alexander,
 compelled to make a choice of their proffered gifts, chose living with Helen before all
 else. In so doing he did not look to its pleasures—although even this is thought by the
 wise to be preferable to many things, but nevertheless it was not this he strove for—

but because he was eager to become a son of Zeus by marriage, considering this a much
 greater and more glorious honor than sovereignty over Asia, and thinking that while great
 dominions and sovereignties fall at times even to quite ordinary men, no man would ever in
 all time to come be considered worthy of such a woman; and furthermore, that he could
 leave no more glorious heritage to his children than by seeing to it that they should be
 descendants of Zeus, not only on their father's side, but also on their mother's.

For he knew that while other blessings bestowed by Fortune soon change hands, nobility of
 birth abides forever with the same possessors; therefore he foresaw that this choice would
 be to the advantage of all his race, whereas the other gifts would be enjoyed for the
 duration of his own life only.

No sensible person surely could find fault with this reasoning, but some, who have not
 taken into consideration the antecedent events but look at the sequel alone, have before
 now reviled Alexander; but the folly of these accusers is easily discerned by all from the
 calumnies they have uttered.

Are they not in a ridiculous state of mind if they think their own judgement is more
 competent than that which the gods chose as best ? For surely they did not select any ordinary arbiter to decide a
 dispute about an issue that had got them into so fierce a quarrel, but obviously they were
 as anxious to select the most competent judge as they were concerned about the matter
 itself.

There is need, moreover, to consider his real worth and to judge him, not by the
 resentment of those who were defeated for the prize, but by the reasons which caused the
 goddesses unanimously to choose his judgement. For nothing prevents even innocent persons
 from being ill-treated by the stronger, but only a mortal man of greatly superior
 intelligence could have received such honor as to become a judge of immortals.

I am astonished that anyone should think that Alexander was ill-advised in choosing to
 live with Helen, for whom many demigods were willing to die. Would he not have been a fool
 if, knowing that the deities themselves were contending for the prize of beauty, he had
 himself scorned beauty, and had failed to regard as the greatest of gifts that for the
 possession of which he saw even those goddesses most earnestly striving?

What man would have rejected marriage with Helen, at whose abduction the Greeks were as
 incensed as if all Greece had been laid waste,
 while the barbarians were as filled with pride as if they had conquered us all? It is
 clear how each party felt about the matter; for although there had been many causes of
 contention between them before, none of these disturbed their peace, whereas for her they
 waged so great a war, not only the greatest of all wars in the violence of its passions,
 but also in the duration of the struggle and in the extent of the preparations the
 greatest of all time.

And although the Trojans might have rid themselves of the misfortunes which encompassed
 them by surrendering Helen, and the Greeks might have lived in peace for all time by being
 indifferent to her fate, neither so wished; on the contrary, the Trojans allowed their
 cities to be laid waste and their land to be ravaged, so as to avoid yielding Helen to the
 Greeks, and the Greeks chose rather, remaining in a foreign land to grow old there and
 never to see their own again, than, leaving her behind, to return to their fatherland.

And they were not acting in this way as eager champions of Alexander or of Menelaus; nay,
 the Trojans were upholding the cause of Asia, the Greeks of Europe , in the belief that the land in which Helen in person resided would
 be the more favored of Fortune.

So great a passion for the hardships of that expedition and for participation in it took
 possession not only of the Greeks and the barbarians, but also of the gods, that they did
 not dissuade even their own children from joining in the struggles around Troy ; Zeus, though foreseeing the fate of
 Sarpedon ,and Eos that of Memnon, and Poseidon that of Cycnus, and Thetis that of
 Achilles, nevertheless they all urged them on and sent them forth,

thinking it more honorable for them to die fighting for the daughter of Zeus than to live
 without having taken part in the perils undergone on her account. And why should we be
 astonished that the gods felt thus concerning their children? For they themselves engaged
 in a far greater and more terrible struggle than when they fought the Giants; for against
 those enemies they had fought a battle in concert, but for Helen they fought a war against
 one another.

With good reason in truth they came to this decision, and I, for my part, am justified
 in employing extravagant language in speaking of Helen; for beauty she possessed in the
 highest degree, and beauty is of all things the most venerated, the most precious, and the
 most divine. And it is easy to determine its power; for while many things which do not
 have any attributes of courage, wisdom, or justice will be seen to be more highly valued
 than any one of these attributes, yet of those things which lack beauty we shall find not
 one that is beloved; on the contrary, all are despised, except in so far as they possess
 in some degree this outward form, beauty, and it is for this reason that virtue is most
 highly esteemed, because it is the most beautiful of ways of living.

And we may learn how superior beauty is to all other things by observing how we ourselves
 are affected by each of them severally. For in regard to the other things which we need,
 we only wish to possess them and our heart's desire is set on nothing further than this;
 for beautiful things, however, we have an inborn passion whose strength of desire
 corresponds to the superiority of the thing sought.

And while we are jealous of those who excel us in intelligence or in anything else,
 unless they win us over by daily benefactions and compel us to be fond of them, yet at
 first sight we become well-disposed toward those who possess beauty, and to these alone as
 to the gods we do not fail in our homage;

on the contrary, we submit more willingly to be the slaves of such than to rule all
 others, and we are more grateful to them when they impose many tasks upon us than to those
 who demand nothing at all. We revile those who fall under the power of anything other than
 beauty and call them flatterers, but those who are subservient to beauty we regard as
 lovers of beauty and lovers of service.

So strong are our feelings of reverence and solicitude for such a quality, that we hold
 in greater dishonour those of its possessors who have trafficked in it and ill-used their
 own youth than those who do violence to the persons of others; whereas those who guard
 their youthful beauty as a holy shrine, inaccessible to the base, are honored by us for
 all time equally with those who have benefited the city as a whole.

But why need I waste time in citing the opinions of men? Nay, Zeus, lord of all, reveals
 his power in all else, but deigns to approach beauty in humble guise. For in the likeness
 of Amphitryon he came to Alcmena, and as a shower of gold he united with Danae, and in the
 guise of a swan he took refuge in the bosom of Nemesis, and again in this form he espoused
 Leda; ever with artifice manifestly, and not with violence, does he pursue beauty in
 women.

And so much greater honor is paid to beauty among the gods than among us that they pardon
 their own wives when they are vanquished by it; and one could cite many instances of
 goddesses who succumbed to mortal beauty, and no one of these sought to keep the fact
 concealed as if it involved disgrace; on the contrary, they desired their adventures to be
 celebrated in song as glorious deeds rather than to be hushed in silence. The greatest
 proof of my statements is this: we shall find that more mortals have been made immortal
 because of their beauty than for all other excellences.

All these personages Helen surpassed in proportion as she excelled them in the beauty of
 her person. For not only did she attain immortality but, having won power equalling that
 of a god, she first raised to divine station her brothers , who were already in the grip of Fate, and wishing
 to make their transformation believed by men, she gave to them honors so manifest that
 they have power to save when they are seen by sailors in peril on the sea, if they but
 piously invoke them.

After this she so amply recompensed Menelaus for the toils and perils which he had
 undergone because of her, that when all the race of the Pelopidae had perished and were
 the victims of irremediable disasters, not only did she free him from these misfortunes
 but, having made him god instead of mortal, she established him as partner of her house
 and sharer of her throne forever.

And I can produce the city of the Spartans, which preserves with especial care its
 ancient traditions, as witness for the fact; for even to the present day at Therapne in Laconia the people offer holy and traditional sacrifices to them both, not
 as to heroes, but as to gods.

And she displayed her own power to the poet Stesichorus also; for when, at the beginning of his ode, he spoke in
 disparagement of her, he arose deprived of his sight; but when he recognized the cause of
 his misfortune and composed the Recantation , as it is called,
 she restored to him his normal sight.

And some of the Homeridae also relate that Helen appeared to Homer by night and commanded
 him to compose a poem on those who went on the expedition to Troy , since she wished to make their death more to be envied than the life
 of the rest of mankind; and they say that while it is partly because of Homer's art, yet
 it is chiefly through her that this poem has such charm and has become so famous among all
 men.

Since, then, Helen has power to punish as well as to reward, it is the duty of those who
 have great wealth to propitiate and to honor her with thank-offerings, sacrifices, and
 processions, and philosophers should endeavour to speak of her in a manner worthy of her
 merits; for such are the first-fruits it is fitting that men of cultivation should offer.

Far more has been passed over than has been said. Apart from the arts and philosophic
 studies and all the other benefits which one might attribute to her and to the Trojan War,
 we should be justified in considering that it is owing to Helen that we are not the slaves
 of the barbarians. For we shall find that it was because of her that the Greeks became
 united in harmonious accord and organized a common expedition against the barbarians, and
 that it was then for the first time that Europe 
 set up a trophy of victory over Asia;

and in consequence, we experienced a change so great that, although in former times any
 barbarians who were in misfortune presumed to be rulers over the Greek cities (for
 example, Danaus, an exile from Egypt , occupied
 Argos , Cadmus of Sidon became king of Thebes ,
 the Carians colonized the islands , and Pelops,
 son of Tantalus, became master of all the Peloponnese ), yet after that war our race expanded so greatly that it took
 from the barbarians great cities and much territory.

If, therefore, any orators wish to dilate upon these matters and dwell upon them, they
 will not be at a loss for material apart from what I have said, wherewith to praise Helen;
 on the contrary, they will discover many new arguments that relate to her.