#Simonides of Ceos

[arctic-hands]

i really don't want to try and translate into English a German translation of Latin even if I still do somewhat remember how to read auf Deutsch, but that's all my libraries have in the way of modern translations of Rhetorica ad Herennium. Archive has a scanned copy of an English translation, but it's from the fifties and still credits Cicero as the author and I'm not sure if a more recent translation would be more accurate. All other free english translations I could find are all of the same source too. Do translators get to keep copyright? One would expect that after two thousand years and no identifiable author that Rhetorica would be in public domain

[very-grownup]

Book 53, 2023

Like every standard issue child, I went through a phase from ages 9 to 14 where I was obsessed with Greek mythology, the Trojan War, and Alexander the Great. When I reached higher education, though, I didn't study any history, and my dead language and oral tradition storytelling went Anglo Saxon and Nordic.

So I own a number of Mary Renault novels, although I've only started to dip into them because you may have seen my bookshelves, but I hardly have the knowledge of the language or history to know much, if anything, beyond what she presents in "The Praise Singer", her historical fiction novel about Simonides, a real 5th Century BC Greek lyric poet. But it's a well-written novel of biographic episodes that doesn't handhold you through the history or culture but also doesn't feel obtuse. I think if you read enough older fiction, especially that written by authors with a background in academia, you can develop the skill of surfing along with the narrative, letting context fill in gaps of your knowledge and knowing that if it's important it will be elaborated on in a way that you'll come to understand.

I recognize that this may seem hypocritical after the paragraphs I spent recently trying to express myself about Alexandra Rowland's "A Taste of Gold and Iron" but I think it's disingenuous to pretend all novels are interchangeable in terms of what's expected from the author and what the reader brings to the table. A romantic fantasy from the 2020s is not making the same choices as a work of historical fiction from the 1960s.

Mary Renault was known for her Greek historical novels for a reason; they're just damn solid.

This one also lead to me seeing this Artemis "hung all over with breasts" from Kyuuyaku Megami Tensei and now you're also seeing it. You're welcome.

[valentina-lauricella]

Per i morti alle Termopili

Di quelli che giacquero alle Termopili gloriosa e bella è la sorte: la loro tomba è un'ara, una memoria degli avi; la loro morte è un elogio. Una tale iscrizione né il muschio, né il tempo distruttore mai la cancellerà: è l'epitaffio de' bravi. Quel sepolcro racchiude la gloria degli abitanti della Grecia.   Testimone Leonida, il re di Sparta, che ha lasciato un grande monumento di virtù, una gloria eterna.

(Simonide)

[Non mi è mai importato nulla delle battaglie né sono mai stata sensibile al cosiddetto valor militare; ma sempre mi è piaciuta questa poesia (forse, un frammento?), perché, essendo sensibili alla poesia, si palpita, attraverso di essa, anche per ciò su cui, nella prosa della realtà, non si poserebbe lo sguardo.]

[t-annhauser]

nemmeno gli dei combattono contro Anánkē

La filosofia insegna che il libero arbitrio non è qualcosa che si manifesta, è qualcosa che si vuole, si manifesta come volontà ma non come incontestabile facoltà di scelta, così come i principi morali, che non si manifestano come principi ma a seconda dei casi come fastidi o piaceri a cui si dà corso di leggi universali. Nella battaglia tra moralità e immoralità vince un'autorità che li precede e sovrasta, l'ineluttabile necessità di quel che accade: "Nemmeno gli dei combattono contro Anánkē" (Simonide di Ceo).

[aristoteliancomplacency]

Anyway there’s a bunch of fucking published authors who don’t know the difference between Simonides of Ceos and Semonides of Amorgos and have used the dates of the latter whilst quoting the former. SPECIFICALLY WHILST TALKING ABOUT THE EARLIEST KNOWN SOURCES FOR THINGS.

Jesus fucking Christ.

[deducter]

Mind palace

Here is the post I promised (which is one of the most requested ones): 'mind palace' also known as 'the method of loci'

I'm going to write a brief history and then jump to the most important parts, which are not monotonous and are actually useful.

This memory method originated in ancient Greek. According to the available data, (a Greek poet) Simonides of Ceos invented a way to remember information (where each person was, etc) after attending a fatal banquet. Simonides stepped outside the banquet (hall), then it collapsed behind him.

Okay, boring, I know. It's time for the actual part of the post: how to do it!

This is the most brilliant part, so keep reading.

Step one: pick a mind palace:

So the first thing you have to do is picking a place as your mind palace, it can also be an unrealistic place, but you have to be able to visualise that place perfectly (note: it doesn't need to be a gigantic place, you can start with a small room). If you are new to this method, and you don't have good visualising skills, pick a real place that you are familiar with; like your own room, house, etc. In the future, you may also have more than one mind palace like me; to use them for different proposes.

Step two: Visualise and enter the mind palace:

Walk, I repeat, walk in the place, get familiar with it, do NOT jump from a room to another. You must have a proper walking pattern in the mind palace. Note: it takes 5–6 times for the average human brain to remember every detail/ pattern of the mind palace correctly, so repeat.

Step three: Pick the storage spots:

For remembering stuff, pick spots in the mind palace that are not similar to each other (if you pick a sofa, don't pick another sofa). You are going to store information in these spots (stations).

Step four: Draw a simplified map of your mind palace: this is obvious, so I'm not going to say anything about it.

Step five: Pin every station for yourself:

We want the memory stations to be better defined, so it's better to pin them. What does it mean? By using the size, colour, smell, and other characteristics of the mental stations, to make them different and special, by doing this, when you connect certain information to that place, a greater connection is created between them.

Now, I'm going to answer the questions you asked before that are related to this topic:

Q: can you please tell me how is it done?

A: I already answered that in this post.

Q: how long have you been doing this?

A: More than 5 years.

Q: How do you visualise everything perfectly? I know you and in maths classes you could visualise everything like a piece of cake! It's so hard for me to do it...

A: hyperphantasia.

Q: do you visit your mind palace often?

A: More than 29 times in a day.

That's all for now.

-ND

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

“When you go home Tell them of us, and say For your tomorrow, We gave our today.”

― Patrick O'Donnell, 'Into the Rising Sun: In Their Own Words, World War II’s Pacific Veterans Reveal the Heart of Combat'

+

This verse (The Kohima Epitaph) is engraved on the Memorial of the 2nd British Division in the cemetery of Kohima (North-East India). The verse is attributed to John Maxwell Edmonds (1875-1958), and is thought to have been inspired by the epitaph written by Simonides of Ceos to honour the Greeks who fell at the Battle of Thermopylae in 480BC. (Source: British Legion)

[thequietabsolute]

According to Cicero, this technique was invented by a Greek, Simonides of Ceos, who had just left a dinner party full of important men when the roof fell in and killed everyone. When he was asked who was there he managed to identify all the dead by remembering where they had sat at the dinner table. In the Rhetorica it's called by the same name, the memory palace. You build a building in your head, you learn your way around it, and then you start attaching memories to its various features, its furniture, its decorations, whatever you choose. If you attach a memory to a particular location you can remember an enormous amount by walking around the place in your head.

— Salman Rushdie, The Enchantress of Florence [2008.]

[official-torfmoor]

That's some Simonides of Ceos bullshit.

There’s this problem that nobody talks about with doing creative tasks to keep your hands busy while listening to podcasts, and that problem is that every crafted item in your home comes with vivid auditory memories attached to it. I can’t put my crocheted beanie on without thinking of half of the Hephaestus crew getting blasted into space as their pod detaches from the ship in a fire safety measure.

[conquerornetwork1]

Interview with Conqueror Barranquilla / Cartagena

In the ever-evolving world of logistics, few companies manage to stand out as true innovators. Kando Global, Conqueror member in Barranquilla and Cartagena, Colombia, is one such trailblazer, redefining what it means to be a freight forwarder. With a foundation built on exceeding expectations—the company has set a new benchmark for customer experience, operational efficiency, and cutting-edge technology. Since its inception in 2015, they have been on a mission to transform the logistics landscape, proving that a freight forwarding company can be both efficient and memorable. Through strategic investments, technological advancements, and a relentless focus on solving complex logistics challenges, Kando has become a trusted partner in a demanding industry. This interview features Simonides Vasco, CEO of Kando Global, offering an inside-look into the company’s journey, innovations, and future aspirations.

[feedergoldfish]

The Turn of a Dragonfly's Wing Being but man, forbear to say Beyond to-night what thing shall be, And date no man's felicity.           For know, all things           Make briefer stay Than dragonflies, whose slender wings       Hover, and whip away.

------

Simonides of Ceos (556-468 BC) via my favorite poetry site First Known When Lost.

[ilearnedthistodaysblog]

#1137 Why does a memory palace work?

Why does a memory palace work? A memory palace works because our brains are better at remembering images and locations than we are at remembering random information. Nobody really invented the memory palace. It is a technique that has been used for as long as there have been people. Before writing, people had no choice but to remember the things that were important to them. Anything that was vital to the tribe was passed along through stories or songs. They were verbal traditions, but they had to remember what they had been told so that they could pass it on to the next generation. They did this by using the techniques that make a memory palace so effective, although they did it without any thought. If we want to be able to use a memory palace, we have to put an awful lot of time and practice into it. The first person who is credited with using a memory palace in relatively recent history was the poet Simonides of Ceos, who lived from 556 BC to 468 BC. The feat attributed to him is probably more of a legend than a true story because he makes no mention of it in any of his own works, but it is often cited as the invention of the memory palace. Simonides was at in a banquet hall, reciting one of his poems to the assembled guests. The lord didn’t like the poem, so he kicked Simonides out and, just as he left the banquet hall, the building collapsed and crushed everyone. When they excavated the rubble, the bodies were squished beyond identification. Simonides was asked to identify all of the corpses and he did it by recounting the exact location of where each person was. This method of memory is the basis for the memory palace. Each memory is put in a place. The Greek for place is “loci”. It is the route of our word location. A memory palace is usually called the method of loci. The method of loci became very popular among the Greeks and the Romans who were very big on rhetoric. Anybody who was anybody gave speeches and the longer the speech the better. They couldn’t read these speeches because that would detract from the effect, so they had to memorize them. They did this by employing the memory palace idea. Parts of the speech would be placed in order along a path and as the speaker walked that mental path, they would be reminded of each part of the speech. People can use a memory palace by taking advantage of the brain’s natural ability to remember certain things. Our brains are very good at remembering places and objects. This is due to something called spatial memory. There are several parts of the brain that are involved with encoding spatial memory. These are the hippocampus, the posterior parietal cortex, the entorhinal cortex, the prefrontal cortex, the retrosplenial cortex, and the perirhinal cortex. These different parts of the brain take in all the signals we have of the world around us and they encode it into a geometric and topographical map, which they store. We then have the ability to not only access this map, but to also be able to move it round in our heads and look at it from different angles. This ability to remember spatially is a vital ability for us because it allows us to find food and to find shelter. If early humans found a food source, a water source, and a place of shelter, they needed to remember where they were because it wasn’t certain that they would find anymore. Even today, we need to remember where our food and our homes are.  This spatial memory is why a memory palace works. Because you can view locations in your head, turn them around, and even walk through them, it makes it very easy to place objects along the way. To remember a list of things, you have to think of a place that you are familiar with. It has to be somewhere you are familiar with because that spatial memory is already engrained in your brain. You then plot a path through that place and you place the things you want to remember along that path. For example, if I want to remember to buy ketchup, beer, and soap, I can picture myself walking into my house. To the left of the door is a table and I cover that in tomato ketchup. So much that it is dripping down onto the floor. Then I place a crate of beer next to it, so I trip over it while walking to the kitchen. And I smear the kitchen door with soap so that I can’t open it. When I go to the shop, I walk this path in my mind and each object placed along the path will remind me of what I need to buy. At least, that is the theory. It takes a lot of practice to become good at it. And this is what I learned today. - #714 How are memories stored? - #560 What is the difference between short and long-term memory? - #529 Is a photographic memory real? - #1112 Do guilt and shame have a purpose? - #750 What is flash memory? Sources https://bulletproofmusician.com/does-the-memory-palace-strategy-really-work-and-is-it-something-musicians-could-use/ https://www.coursera.org/articles/memory-palace https://www.reddit.com/r/IsItBullshit/comments/arkd82/isitbullshit_do_memory_palaces_work/ https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/critical-thinking-history/ancient-memory-technique-still-puzzles-scientists https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simonides_of_Ceos https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/22716264/memory-science-memorability https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spatial_memory https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/our-brain-is-better-at-remembering-where-to-find-brownies-than-cherry-tomatoes Photo by meo: https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-head-bust-print-artwork-724994/ Read the full article

[kkarmalade]

Interfaces

If you're on that tip like, "the Globe Theatre might have been an early attempt at constructing what we call a, "computer interface" you're about 2/3 of the way there.

The first interface designer was Simonides of Ceos. Cicero wrote O'Reilly books. Giordano Bruno wrote all the Shakespeare plays. Sue me.

[antonlaub]

Creatio ex nihilo (Bucuresti-Berlin: 1001 Articole), 2024/2015, chromogenic print on photo paper, 80x60 cm, from the eponymous video loop (00:01:00), 2015. Exhibition view: Alexandru Paul, 2/3 Galeria

𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀

Artists: David Barreiro, Bogdan Bordeianu, John Divola, Vladimir Florentin, Ion Grigorescu, Lina Ivanova, Anton Roland Laub, Ioana Marinescu, Andrei Mateescu, Alexander Rosenkranz, Emily Ryalls, Nadina Stoica, Anca Tintea

Curator: Laura Bivolaru

Project Coordinators: Claudia Retegan, Mihai Șovăială

Opening: September 5, 2024, at 18:00, 2/3 Galeria, Str. Franceza 4, Bucharest

September 6 – October 6, 2024

𝗩𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗛𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀: Thursday & Friday: 17:00-19:00 // Saturday & Sunday: 12:00-16:00

"Expanded Spatialities" problematizes the uniform image of the globalized city, asserting the human body as a creative agent of urban space. Through photography, collage, video, performance, and drawing, the city becomes a practiced space which residents and visitors alike occupy, build, remember and imagine across history.

The thirteen exhibiting artists use the past, both individual and collective memories, and their own bodies to expand and reinterpret urban space at the intersection of fiction and reality, between cartography and psychogeography. In their practices, the political, economic, and social aspects that impact the city are brought to light, investigated, and destabilised. Thus, the image is understood as more than just a mirror of the existing space; it becomes a tangible extension of past and future possibilities.

___________________

Partners: The Institute, Revista–Arta, Photography.Influx

Graphic Design: Vlad Mat

The cultural project is co-financed by the National Cultural Fund Administration (AFCN). It does not necessarily represent the position of AFCN. The AFCN is not responsible for the content of the project or how the results of the project may be used. These are entirely the responsibility of the funding recipient.

-------------------------

When I moved from Bucharest to Berlin, the sight of Karl Marx Avenue (formerly Stalin Avenue) immediately reminded me of the facades of Unity Boulevard (formerly Victory of Socialism Boulevard), so that memories of Bucharest gradually became associated with Karl-Marx-Allee. These memories, sediments, layers and maps still react to each other.

While photographing, I was reminded of Cicero's story of Simonides of Ceos, who discovered a new art of memory after a tragedy struck a banquet to which he had been invited to recite poetry. Just as the poet was called outside, the roof of the banquet hall collapsed, crushing all the guests beyond recognition. But Simonides was able to identify their mangled remains for family members because he remembered where they had sat at the table. Thus was born the mnemonic method of loci - places - which associates memories with specific places.

Karl-Marx-Allee is linked to the history of the former GDR, it was the flagship project of the East German reconstruction programme after the Second World War.  It was here that the 17 June Uprising (the first anti-Stalinist uprising) was bloodily crushed by the Soviet Army in 1953.

In the 1980s, Bucharest had to pay a high price for the ruthless 'systematisation' of the city: the demolition of a third of the old historic area, including buildings in the classicist, art nouveau, modernist and art deco traditions, as well as synagogues and churches. It was one of the greatest urban destructions in the history of Romania, even compared to the destruction caused by the bombs of the Second World War. Thanks to the efforts of the intellectual elite both inside and outside the country, UNESCO was able to intervene in this urban massacre of architectural and collective memory. As a result of the international pressure, sacral buildings were no longer demolished, but the dictatorial absurdity persisted. While the population was surviving on the edge of subsistence, massive efforts were made to put entire churches on rails and move them, sometimes only a few metres from their original location: away from the streets, in the background, behind a series of new propagandistic buildings.

With the ‘systematisation’ programme and the construction of Bulevardul Victoria Socialismului (Victory of Socialism Boulevard) - today Bulevardul Unirii (Unity Boulevard) - the churches and synagogues were no longer visible from the street. They were erased from the official cityscape, but not from the memory of the locals.

[androphilia76]

“Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by,

That here, obedient to their laws, we lie.”

- Epitaph for the fallen Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae, Simonides of Ceos, ~480 BC

[cupofteajones]

Quote of the Day - April 28, 2022

Quote of the Day – April 28, 2022