How's Your Memory?Anthony Metivier Prelude Show Part 2

 Grandpa Bill continues today with part two in the prelude show to my upcoming guest Anthony Metivier. He will be joining me a bit later this month.

Hows Your Memory?

Simonides of Ceos (/saɪˈmɒnɪˌdiːz/; Greek: Σιμωνίδης ὁ Κεῖος; c. 556–468 BC) was a Greek lyric poet, born in Ioulis on Ceos. The scholars of Hellenistic Alexandria included him in the canonical list of the nine lyric poets esteemed by them as worthy of critical study. Included on this list were Bacchylides, his nephew, and Pindar, reputedly a bitter rival, both of whom benefited from his innovative approach to lyric poetry. Simonides, however, was more involved than either in the major events and with the personalities of their times.[1]

Lessing, writing in the Enlightenment era, referred to him as "the Greek Voltaire."[2] His general renown owes much to traditional accounts of his colorful life, as one of the wisest of men; as a greedy miser; as an inventor of a system of mnemonics; and the inventor of some letters of the Greek alphabet (ω, η, ξ, ψ).[3] Such accounts include fanciful elements, yet he had a real influence on the sophistic enlightenment of the Classical era.[4] His fame as a poet rests largely on his ability to present basic human situations with affecting simplicity.[5] In the words of the Roman rhetorician Quintilian (55–100 AD):

Simonides has a simple style, but he can be commended for the aptness of his language and for a certain charm; his chief merit, however, lies in the power to excite pity, so much so that some prefer him in this respect to all other writers of the genre.[6]

c/o Part one on Spotify

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