Pliny the Elder on Ancient Memory Feats
Pliny the Elder wrote about memory feats in his work, The Natural History. Here are a few things he had to say circa 77-79 C.E.: Read more
Tag: Simonides
A Short Video Tour of Simonides’ Village
A few years ago, I made a journey to the village where Simonides of Ceos was born. According to Roman legend, Simonides invented the method of loci — one of the main techniques that memorizers use.
While I was going through some old photos today, I found a video from Simonides’ hometown. It is just a quick, casual video clip, but I thought that readers might be interested in seeing it. Read more
The Town of Ioulis: Simonides’ Birthplace
After I arrived on the island of Kea (Ceos) last night, I learned that the buses don’t run on the island until June, so I couldn’t get to the campground unless I wanted to pay $60 round-trip for a taxi. I decided to stay one extra night at the hotel and visit Ioulia, birthplace of Simonides of Ceos.
I ended up walking the 5.5 km up to Ioulis today, checking out the archaeological museum (no photos allowed), and making a quick memory journey. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the famous lion statue that must have been there when Simonides was young. The girl at the cafe pointed me in a direction and said there was only one road to the lion, but it turned into the typical maze of paths and stairs that are found in the Cyclades, and it was getting late. Read more
Arrival on the Island of Kea (Ceos)
I just arrived on the Greek island of Kea, where Simonides of Ceos was from. Read more
Simonides of Ceos
Roman legend claims that Simonides of Ceos was the inventor of the method of loci where large amounts of data can be remembered in order by placing images that represent the data into mental locations or journeys. (The actual origin of the technique goes far back into prehistory though — read The Memory Code for the full story.)
I was in the Greek Islands last summer and tried to visit his birthplace on Kea, but due to a Greek holiday I couldn’t find a ferry from Athens. I’m planning on visiting Kea next summer to make a memory journey in his hometown of Ioulis.
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