![]() But, Simonides was able to remember where each of the guests had been sitting at the table, and so was able to identify them for burial. The bodies were so disfigured that they could not be identified for proper burial. Then, while he was outside the banquet hall, it collapsed, crushing everyone within. He left to meet the visitors but could find no one. A short time later, Simonides was told that two men were waiting for him outside. When the recital was complete, the nobleman selfishly told Simonides that he would only pay him half of the agreed upon payment for the panegyric, and that he would have to get the balance of the payment from the two gods he had mentioned. While praising his host, Simonides also mentioned the twin gods Castor and Pollux. The most common account of the creation of the art of memory centers around the story of Simonides of Ceos, a famous Greek poet, who was invited to chant a lyric poem in honor of his host, a nobleman of Thessaly. Passages in his works On The Soul and On Memory and Reminiscence proved to be influential in the later revival of the art among medieval Scholastics. Aristotle wrote extensively on the subject of memory, and mentions the technique of the placement of images to lend order to memory. Additionally, the art is mentioned in fragments from earlier Greek works including the Dialexis, dated to approximately 400 BCE. The primary classical sources for the art of memory which deal with the subject at length include the Rhetorica ad Herennium (Bk III), Cicero's De oratore (Bk II 350–360), and Quintilian's Institutio Oratoria (Bk XI). It has been suggested that the art of memory originated among the Pythagoreans or perhaps even earlier among the ancient Egyptians, but no conclusive evidence has been presented to support these claims. ![]() Any or all of these techniques were often used in combination with the contemplation or study of architecture, books, sculpture and painting, which were seen by practitioners of the art of memory as externalizations of internal memory images and/or organization.īecause of the variety of principles and techniques, and their various applications, some researchers refer to "the arts of memory", rather than to a single art. Techniques commonly employed in the art include the association of emotionally striking memory images within visualized locations, the chaining or association of groups of images, the association of images with schematic graphics or notae ("signs, markings, figures" in Latin), and the association of text with images. It has existed as a recognized group of principles and techniques since at least as early as the middle of the first millennium BCE, and was usually associated with training in rhetoric or logic, but variants of the art were employed in other contexts, particularly the religious and the magical. ![]() It is an 'art' in the Aristotelian sense, which is to say a method or set of prescriptions that adds order and discipline to the pragmatic, natural activities of human beings. An alternative term is "Ars Memorativa" which is also translated as "art of memory" although its more literal meaning is "Memorative Art". The art of memory ( Latin: ars memoriae) is any of a number of loosely associated mnemonic principles and techniques used to organize memory impressions, improve recall, and assist in the combination and 'invention' of ideas. Graphical memory devices from the works of Giordano Bruno For the album by John Zorn and Fred Frith, see The Art of Memory (album). ![]()
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