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Gorgias

File:Gorgia_di_Leontini.png · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Gorgias

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Also known as Gorgias of Leontini

Gorgias ( ; ; – ) was an ancient Greek sophist, pre-Socratic philosopher, and rhetorician who was a native of Leontinoi in Sicily. Several doxographers report that he was a pupil of Empedocles, although he would only have been a few years younger. W. K. C. Guthrie writes that "Like other Sophists, he was an itinerant that practiced in various cities and giving public exhibitions of his skill at the great pan-Hellenic centers of Olympia and Delphi, and charged fees for his instruction and performances. A special feature of his displays was to ask miscellaneous questions from the audience and gi

AI overview

Gorgias was an ancient Greek sophist and rhetorician from Sicily who traveled between cities giving paid public demonstrations of his speaking and reasoning skills, particularly at major Greek religious centers. His work represents an important early development in rhetoric and philosophy, influencing how the ancient Greeks thought about language, persuasion, and public discourse.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

Philosopher.region
Western philosophy
Philosopher.era
Pre-Socratic philosophy
Philosopher.name
Gorgias
Philosopher.birth_place
Leontinoi, Sicily, Magna Graecia
Philosopher.death_date
(aged )
Philosopher.school_tradition
Sophists
Philosopher.main_interests
Ontology, epistemology, rhetoric, moral relativism
Philosopher.notable_ideas
Paradoxologia

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Instance of
human
Gender
male
Place of birth
Lentini
Place of death
Larissa
Occupation
sophist
Languages spoken
Ancient Greek
Student of
Tisias
Field of work
philosophy
Movement
sophist
Image
Gorgia di Leontini.png
Show 9 more facts
date of birth
0485-01-01
date of death
0375-00-00
student
Polus
described by source
Pauly–Wissowa
writing language
Attic Greek
name in native language
Γοργίας
on focus list of Wikimedia project
Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
Commons category
Gorgias
significant place
Leontini
Sources (9)

via Wikidata · CC0

~29 min read

Encyclopedic overview

17 sections
Contents
  • Life
  • Philosophy
  • Rhetorical innovation
  • ''On Non-Existence''
  • Rhetorical works
  • ''Encomium of Helen''
  • ''Defense of Palamedes''
  • ''Epitaphios'' (or the Athenian funeral oration)
  • Reception and legacy
  • In antiquity
  • Modern reception
  • See also
  • References
  • Bibliography
  • Primary sources
  • Secondary sources
  • External links

Gorgias ( ; ; – ) was an ancient Greek sophist, pre-Socratic philosopher, and rhetorician who was a native of Leontinoi in Sicily. Several doxographers report that he was a pupil of Empedocles, although he would only have been a few years younger. W. K. C. Guthrie writes that "Like other Sophists, he was an itinerant that practiced in various cities and giving public exhibitions of his skill at the great pan-Hellenic centers of Olympia and Delphi, and charged fees for his instruction and performances. A special feature of his displays was to ask miscellaneous questions from the audience and give impromptu replies." He has been called "Gorgias the Nihilist", although the degree to which this epithet adequately describes his philosophy is controversial.

Prominent among his claims to recognition is that he transplanted rhetoric from his native Sicily to Attica, and contributed to the diffusion of the Attic dialect as the language of literary prose.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Gorgias” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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