"Appendix C" by Anne Carson

APPENDIX C 

CLEARING UP 

THE QUESTION OF 

STESICHOROS' BLINDING 

BY HELEN 

1. Either Stesichoros was a blind man or he was not. 

2. If Stesichoros was a blind man either his blindness was a temporary condition or it was permanent. 

3. If Stesichoros' blindness was a temporary condition this condition either had a contingent cause or it had none. 

4. If this condition had a contingent cause that cause was Helen or the cause was not Helen. 

5. If the cause was Helen Helen had her reasons or she had none. 

6. If Helen had her reasons the reasons arose out of some remark Stesichoros made or they did not. 

7. If Helen's reasons arose out of some remark Stesichoros made either it was a strong remark about Helen's sexual misconduct (not to say its unsavory aftermath the Fall of Troy) or it was not. 

8. If it was a strong remark about Helen's sexual misconduct (not to say its unsavory aftermath the Fall of Troy) either this remark was a lie or it was not. 

9. If it was not a lie either we are now in reverse and by continuing to reason in this way are likely to arrive back at the beginning of the question of the blinding of Stesichoros or we are not. 

10. If we are now in reverse and by continuing to reason in this way are likely to arrive back at the beginning of the question of the blinding of Stesichoros either we will go along without incident or we will meet Stesichoros on our way back. 

11. If we meet Stesichoros on our way back either we will keep quiet or we will look him in the eye and ask him what he thinks of Helen. 

12. If we look Stesichoros in the eye and ask him what he thinks of Helen either he will tell the truth or he will lie. 

13. If Stesichoros lies either we will know at once that he is lying or we will be fooled because now that we are in reverse the whole landscape looks inside out. 

14. If we are fooled because now that we are in reverse the whole landscape looks inside out either we will find that we do not have a single penny on us or we will call Helen up and tell her the good news. 

15. If we call Helen up either she will sit with her glass of vermouth and let it ring or she will answer. 

16. If she answers either we will (as they say) leave well enough alone or we will put Stesichoros on. 

17. If we put Stesichoros on either he will contend that he now sees more clearly than ever before the truth about her whoring or he will admit he is a liar. 

18. If Stesichoros admits he is a liar either we will melt into the crowd or we will stay to see how Helen reacts. 

19. If we stay to see how Helen reacts either we will find ourselves pleasantly surprised by her dialectical abilities or we will be taken downtown by the police for questioning. 

20. If we are taken downtown by the police for questioning either we will be expected (as eyewitnesses) to clear up once and for all the question whether Stesichoros was a blind man or not. 

21. If Stesichoros was a blind man either we will lie or if not not.

Source of the text - Anne Carson, Autobiography of Red: A Novel in Verse.  New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 1998, pages 18-20.

TJB: Flowchart as art. This poem of either/or propositions plays out many permutations of Stesichoros’ slut-shaming of Helen, slouching toward humor.