the story of Simonides

The Greek poet Simonides had been invited to a party to read his poetry. During the meal Simonides was called to the door, as there was someone to see him outside. When he went outside, the house suddenly fell apart. As it was a stone house, the people inside were instantly killed . Simonides was the only survivor from the party. The relatives of those killed all wanted to know which body was which, so that they could bury the right person and the only one who could help them was Simonides. To everyone s surprise he was able to give them many details of the people who had been inside. He had used a very effective memory technique, putting everything he wanted to remember in a familiar place. This method then made it easy for him to recall everything he had put in each place.

The story of Simonides was told by the Roman statesman and writer Cicero in De Oratore, his book on rhetoric. Cicero deals with memorizing techniques as part of rhetoric. To the perfect speaker it was necessary to keep every word of a long speech in his memory, as he was not allowed to use a manuscript. Having a good memory was a sign of being loved by the gods.

In another Roman book, Ad Herennium, by an unknown author, we find notes on those factors which strengthen the memory and weaken the memory. We tend to forget things that belong to everyday life more easily than those which are odd and new. By noticing this fact we can add an important element to the art of mnemonics : if we deliberately create mental pictures that are unique and different in some respects, eg ugly, absurd, rude, humorous , sensual, adding colour and life to them, we achieve a near-perfect memory.

Time to practise some memory techniques!

exercise

Read the following numbers and words and try to remember each number and word together. You have one minute.

5 bike	10 frog
9 pistol	7 bottle
3 cucumber	4 cake
6 shoe	2 bird
1 floor	8 truck

Cover the words above and write down as many as you can remember:

1     _____________________	6     _____________________
2     _____________________	7     _____________________
3     _____________________	8     _____________________
4     _____________________	9     _____________________
5     _____________________	10   _____________________

Well, how did you manage? Normally, it does not work so well the first time, unless you have a functioning memory technique. Would you believe it if you were told you could easily score all ten with one or two more tries ? First you will get to know the principles (pages 77 “82) and then another exercise, and I can guarantee that most of you who read this book will score all ten next time!