His chief fault was excess; he was a pioneer in expression, and did very valuable work; but he lacked a sense of proportion. The result is that the page of his genuine work which we possess reads like a parody of style, as every characteristic is carried to extreme. But the teacher must indulge in exaggeration, or the pupil will not grasp his points, and the work of Gorgias has a considerable value. It was the first attempt to form a style, and his followers learned partly by imitation, partly by avoiding the faults which were too prominent. The very fact that the fragment preserved is possibly not in his best style makes it the easier to observe his influence on his successors—Antiphon, Thucydides, and many subsequent writers of artistic prose. In addition to the speeches already mentioned we possess two _encomia_ on Helen and Palamedes, which are attributed to him. Their authenticity is very doubtful, but Blass, who discussed the question very thoroughly in his _Attic Orators_ without coming to a conviction, has since decided in favour of their genuineness.[42] This is entirely a matter of personal opinion; but, even if not genuine, they are probably able imitations of the Gorgian style and method. The fragment from the _Epitaphios_ can hardly be translated in a way that will give a proper idea of its affectations, but as some notion of its most striking faults may be formed from an English version, some extracts are added. In the Greek in some places there seems to be very little sense, and what there is has been entirely subordinated to the sound: ‘What quality was there absent in these men which ought in men to be present? And what was there present that should not be present? May I have the power to speak as I would, and the will to speak as I should, avoiding the jealousy of gods and escaping the envy of men. For these were divine in their valour, though human in their mortality; often preferring mild equity to stern justice, and often the uprightness of reasoning to the strictness of the laws, considering that the most divine and universal law is this—to speak, to omit, and to do the proper thing at the proper time. Two duties above all they practised, strength of mind and strength of body; the one in deliberation, the other in execution; tenders of those who by injustice were unfortunate, punishers of those who by injustice were fortunate.... And accordingly, though they have died, our yearning died not with them, but immortal over these bodies not immortal it lives when they live no more.’