Virtue,Politics And Beauty-a Study On Isocrate's Encomium Of Helen

This thesis is a study of the ancient Greek orator Isocrates' Encomium of Helen,Encomium of Helen was created after the Peloponnesian War in the 4th century B.C.,Greece was enslaved by Persia under the tyranny of Sparta and divided among the city-states.Isocrates based on the concern for the practical politics,trying to find a character like the beauty of Helen that united Greece to defeat the barbarians,which contains his idea of pan-Hellenism.Isocrates' praise of Helen includes three dimensions: virtue,politics and beauty.Among which,virtue and politics are more fundamental,beauty runs through them.Virtue can show beauty,it is the strongest guarantee of beauty,it contains the most beauty in all characters,so it's the most important thing.Beauty can unite Greeks and resist the barbarians,it has great political appeal.Encomium of Helen is the mythical template of Isocrates' idea of pan-Hellenism,the beauty has symbolic significance on behalf of Europa and Asia,it is the political representation of this idea.This thesis is divided into three parts: introduction,text and conclusion,the structure is as follows:The first part is the introduction,the background and significance of the research are expounded,including the Greek tradition of speech and the life and works of Isocrates.Next is the summary of domestic and foreign research,which summarized the translation of Encomium of Helen and the current research situation of domestic and foreign.Finally,it explains the research ideas and methods from three aspects: theme,content and structure.The second part is the study of Encomium of Helen,on the theme of virtue,politics and beauty,in order of text,discussed the philosophy should be devoted to the practice of city-state,the beauty runs through the virtue and the beauty is the political representation of the idea of pan-Hellenism,other important issues are addressed in the subsections.The third part is the conclusion,it further discusses the inner relationship among virtue,politics and beauty,combining with Plato's political views,summing up and reflecting on the political intentions of Isocrates.