Memoria was the term for aspects involving memory in Western classical rhetoric . The word is Latin, and can be translated as "memory".
67-404: Memoria refers to one of five canons in classical rhetoric. Memoria , or Memorias (Spanish), or Memórias (Portuguese) may also refer to: Memoria It was one of five canons in classical rhetoric (the others being inventio , dispositio , elocutio , and pronuntiatio ) concerned with the crafting and delivery of speeches and prose. The art of rhetoric grew out of oratory , which
134-448: A chariot pulled by two winged horses: "First the charioteer of the human soul drives a pair, and secondly one of the horses is noble and of noble breed, but the other quite the opposite in breed and character. Therefore in our case the driving is necessarily difficult and troublesome." The charioteer represents intellect, reason, or the part of the soul that must guide the soul to truth; one horse represents rational or moral impulse or
201-662: A complete circle. On the way they are able to see Justice, Self-control, Knowledge, and other things as they are in themselves, unchanging. When they have seen all things and feasted on them, coming all the way around, they sink back down inside heaven. The immortal souls that follow the gods most closely are able to just barely raise their chariots up to the rim and look out on reality. They see some things and miss others, having to deal with their horses; they rise and fall at varying times. Other souls, while straining to keep up, are unable to rise, and in noisy, sweaty discord they leave uninitiated, not having seen reality. Where they go after
268-484: A defense speech, " On the Murder of Eratosthenes ". In the speech a man who killed his wife's lover claims that the laws of Athens required him to do it. The outcome of this speech is unknown. The dialogue consists of a series of three speeches on the topic of love that serves as the subject to construct a discussion on the proper use of rhetoric. They encompass discussions of the soul , madness , divine inspiration, and
335-431: A drug for getting me out. A hungry animal can be driven by dangling a carrot or a bit of greenstuff in front of it; similarly if you proffer me speeches bound in books I don't doubt you can cart me all around Attica, and anywhere else you please." Phaedrus then commences to repeat Lysias' speech. Beginning with "You understand, then, my situation: I've told you how good it would be for us in my opinion, if this worked out",
402-421: A literal discussion of metempsychosis or reincarnation: perhaps he meant it figuratively. Plato does not see the human soul as a sort of patchwork of emotions and concepts; this differs from the views of many philosophers of his time. Instead he views the soul as a sort of composite , in which many different elements blend together and affect each other. He uses the allegory of the charioteer to explain that love
469-452: A soul to grow its wings and return to where it came, but philosophers, after having chosen such a life three times in a row, grow their wings and return after only 3,000 years. This is because they have seen the most and always keep its memory as close as possible, and philosophers maintain the highest level of initiation. They ignore human concerns and are drawn towards the divine. While ordinary people rebuke them for this, they are unaware that
536-544: A speaker depended not just on the strength of his prepared arguments, but on the audience's perceptions of the speaker. In Greece, Rome, and Renaissance Europe, a speaker's familiarity of many areas of learning was seen as a virtue. When the Humanists took up the ideas on memory found the writings of Classical authors, memoria played an important role in the pedagogical system. Texts were learned first by rote memorization, then re-read for meaning. Children's ability to memorize
603-416: A thesis and proceeds to make divisions accordingly, finding divine love, and setting it out as the greatest of goods. And yet, they agree, the art of making these divisions is dialectic , not rhetoric, and it must be seen what part of rhetoric may have been left out. When Socrates and Phaedrus proceed to recount the various tools of speechmaking as written down by the great orators of the past, starting with
670-522: Is a dialogue between Socrates and Phaedrus , an interlocutor in several dialogues. The Phaedrus was presumably composed around 370 BC, about the same time as Plato's Republic and Symposium . Although ostensibly about the topic of love , the discussion in the dialogue revolves around the art of rhetoric and how it should be practiced, and dwells on subjects as diverse as metempsychosis (the Greek tradition of reincarnation ) and erotic love , and
737-469: Is a reflection of love of the forms, and is thus a "divine madness," a theia mania . In the Phaedrus , Socrates makes the rather bold claim that some of life's greatest blessings flow from madness; and he clarifies this later by noting that he is referring specifically to madness inspired by the gods. Phaedrus is Plato's only dialogue that shows Socrates outside the city of Athens, out in the country. It
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#1732773116972804-420: Is about to do something he should not. A voice "from this very spot" forbids Socrates to leave before he makes atonement for some offense to the gods. Socrates then admits that he thought both of the preceding speeches were terrible, saying Lysias' repeated itself numerous times, seemed uninterested in its subject, and seemed to be showing off. Socrates states that he is a "seer". While he is not very good at it, he
871-410: Is about. Furthermore, writings are silent; they cannot speak, answer questions, or come to their own defense. Accordingly, the legitimate sister of this is, in fact, dialectic; it is the living, breathing discourse of one who knows, of which the written word can only be called an image. The one who knows uses the art of dialectic rather than writing: Plato paints the picture of a charioteer driving
938-434: Is all Phaedrus' doing. Socrates comments that as the speech seemed to make Phaedrus radiant, he is sure that Phaedrus understands these things better than he does himself, and that he cannot help follow Phaedrus' lead into his Bacchic frenzy . Phaedrus picks up on Socrates' subtle sarcasm and asks Socrates not to joke. Socrates retorts that he is still in awe, and claims to be able to make an even better speech than Lysias on
1005-399: Is all bad, then the preceding speeches would have been correct, but in actuality, madness given as a gift of the gods provides us with some of the best things we have. There are, in fact, several kinds of divine madness ( theia mania ), of which he cites four examples: As they must show that the madness of love is, indeed, sent by a god to benefit the lover and beloved in order to disprove
1072-466: Is good enough for his purposes, and he recognizes what his offense has been: if love is a god or something divine, as he and Phaedrus both agree he is, he cannot be bad, as the previous speeches have portrayed him. Socrates, baring his head, vows to undergo a rite of purification as a follower of the Muses , and proceeds to give a speech praising the lover. Socrates begins by discussing madness. If madness
1139-512: Is holding under his cloak. Phaedrus gives in and agrees to perform Lysias' speech. Phaedrus and Socrates walk through a stream and find a seat in the shade. Phaedrus and Socrates both note how anyone would consider Socrates a foreigner in the countryside, and Socrates attributes this fault to his love of learning which "trees and open country won't teach," while "men in the town" will. Socrates then proceeds to give Phaedrus credit for leading him out of his native land: "Yet you seem to have discovered
1206-406: Is much more acceptable for politicians and for people of authority to use aids when delivering addresses. Although it could be viewed as an aid to use notes or teleprompters, greater importance is placed on actually conveying the information to the audience in a clear and concise manner. For ancient orators, the excellence of how a speech was presented was more important than the simple delivery of
1273-501: Is not the knowledge of harmony itself. This, then, is what must be said to those who attempt to teach the art of rhetoric through "Preambles" and "Recapitulations"; they are ignorant of dialectic, and teach only what is necessary to learn as preliminaries. They go on to discuss what is good or bad in writing. Socrates tells a brief legend, critically commenting on the gift of writing from the Egyptian god Theuth to King Thamus , who
1340-416: Is our inborn desire for pleasure, and the other is our acquired judgment that pursues what is best (237d). Following your judgment is "being in your right mind", while following desire towards pleasure without reason is "outrage" ( hubris ). Following different desires leads to different things; one who follows his desire for food is a glutton, and so on. The desire to take pleasure in beauty, reinforced by
1407-403: Is the best form that possession by a god can take, for all those connected to it. When one is reminded of true beauty by the sight of a beautiful boy, he is called a lover. While all have seen reality, as they must have to be human, not all are so easily reminded of it. Those that can remember are startled when they see a reminder, and are overcome with the memory of beauty. Beauty, he states,
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#17327731169721474-567: Is then dependent on their own opinions, rather than the truth. Any soul that catches sight of any true thing is granted another circuit where it can see more; eventually, all souls fall back to earth. Those that have been initiated are put into varying human incarnations, depending on how much they have seen; those made into philosophers and artists have seen the most, while kings, statesmen, doctors, prophets, poets, manual laborers, sophists , and tyrants follow respectively. Souls then begin cycles of reincarnation . It generally takes 10,000 years for
1541-586: Is truly shameful is to engage in speaking or writing shamefully or badly, Socrates asks what distinguishes good from bad writing, and they take this up. Phaedrus claims that to be a good speechmaker, one does not need to know the truth of what he is speaking on, but rather how to properly persuade, persuasion being the purpose of speechmaking and oration. Socrates first objects that an orator who does not know bad from good will, in Phaedrus's words, harvest "a crop of really poor quality". Yet Socrates does not dismiss
1608-403: Is written, calling things to remembrance no longer from within themselves." Any Greek in ancient times who was caught using the note-taking method would be laughed at and deemed "weak-minded". Nowadays, it is much more common for speakers to use note cards, though speeches are much more impressive without the use of notes. Using memory during a speech can also affect how the orator influences
1675-409: The "Preamble" and the "Statement Facts" and concluding with the "Recapitulation", Socrates states that the fabric seems a little threadbare. He goes on to compare one with only knowledge of these tools to a doctor who knows how to raise and lower a body's temperature but does not know when it is good or bad to do so, stating that one who has simply read a book or come across some potions knows nothing of
1742-613: The World Wide Web, and other artificial memory devices (Crowley and Hawhee 325–28). Centuries ago, ancient orators had to memorize and present speeches without the help of note cards or crib sheets. Notetaking, as a way to remember certain things, was looked down upon in ancient cultures. In his Phaedrus , Plato has Socrates explaining that relying on writing or taking notes weakened the mind and memory: "If men learn this, it will implant forgetfulness in their souls: they will cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which
1809-503: The art of speechmaking. Rather, he says, it may be that even one who knew the truth could not produce conviction without knowing the art of persuasion; on the other hand, "As the Spartan said, there is no genuine art of speaking without a grasp of the truth, and there never will be". To acquire the art of rhetoric, then, one must make systematic divisions between two different kinds of things: one sort, like "iron" and "silver", suggests
1876-437: The art. One who knows how to compose the longest passages on trivial topics or the briefest passages on topics of great importance is similar, when he claims that to teach this is to impart the knowledge of composing tragedies ; if one were to claim to have mastered harmony after learning the lowest and highest notes on the lyre , a musician would say that this knowledge is what one must learn before one masters harmony, but it
1943-429: The audience. When the speaker addresses the audiences relying solely on their memory, they build a certain amount of ethos within the relationship. Memoria in relation to ethos during a speech situation can be described as a certain amount trustworthiness felt between the audience, as well as a level of similarity, authority, or expertise that the orator has over the audience. Unlike ancient Greece, in today's society, it
2010-458: The boy's life. The non-lover, he concludes, will do none of this, always ruled by judgment rather than desire for pleasure. Socrates, fearing that the nymphs will take complete control of him if he continues, states that he is going to leave before Phaedrus makes him "do something even worse". However, just before Socrates is about to leave, he is stopped by the "familiar divine sign", his daemon , which always occurs and only just before Socrates
2077-460: The boy's life. Because the boy has a lover as such a valuable role model, he is on his best behavior to not get caught in something shameful. To get caught in something shameful would be like letting down his lover, therefore the boy is consistently acting his best. The absence of shame makes room for a sense of pride to come in; pride from the wealthy feeling of impressing one's own lover. Impressing one's own lover brings more learning and guidance into
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2144-482: The boy. As he gets closer to his quarry, and the love is reciprocated, the opportunity for sexual contact again presents itself. If the lover and beloved surpass this desire they have won the "true Olympic Contests "; it is the perfect combination of human self-control and divine madness, and after death, their souls return to heaven. Those who give in do not become weightless, but they are spared any punishment after their death, and will eventually grow wings together when
2211-417: The categories are: (1) philosophers, lovers of beauty, or someone musical and erotic; (2) law-abiding kings or civic leaders; (3) politicians, estate-managers or businessmen; (4) ones who specialize in bodily health; (5) prophets or mystery cult participants; (6) poets or imitative artists; (7) craftsmen or farmers; (8) sophists or demagogues; and (9) tyrants. One need not suppose that Plato intended this as
2278-402: The charioteer looks into the boy's face, his memory is carried back to the sight of the forms of beauty and self-control he had with the gods, and pulls back violently on the reins. As this occurs over and over, the bad horse eventually becomes obedient and finally dies of fright when seeing the boy's face, allowing the lover's soul to follow the boy in reverence and awe. The lover now pursues
2345-423: The custom of accumulating commonplaces. Hence, for a rhetor, memory is as much related to the need to extemporize as to the necessity to memorize a discourse for delivery; in this way it is linked to kairos and to the ideas of copia and amplification (Burton). Crowley and Hawhee state about memory and kairos, "... kairos and memory were partnered in several ways. First, both require a kind of 'attunement' in that
2412-454: The day's events and our hearing of it, explicitly giving us an incomplete, fifth-hand account. Lysias was one of the three sons of Cephalus, the patriarch whose home is the setting for Plato's Republic . Lysias was perhaps the most famous logographos (λογογράφος, lit. "speech writer") in Athens during the time of Plato. Lysias was a rhetorician and a sophist whose best-known extant work is
2479-404: The head" and is not thinking straight, overcome by love. He explains that it is best to give your favor to one who can best return it, rather than one who needs it most. He concludes by stating that he thinks the speech is long enough, and the listener is welcome to ask any questions if something has been left out. Socrates, attempting to flatter Phaedrus, responds that he is in ecstasy and that it
2546-455: The kindred beauty in human bodies, is called Eros . Remarking that he is in the grip of something divine, and may soon be overtaken by the madness of the nymphs in this place, he goes on. The problem, he explains, is that one overcome with this desire will want to turn his boy into whatever is most pleasing to himself, rather than what is best for the boy. The boy's intellectual progress will be stifled, his physical condition will suffer,
2613-425: The lover of wisdom is possessed by a god. This is the fourth sort of madness, that of love. One comes to manifest this sort of love after seeing beauty here on earth and being reminded of true beauty as it was seen beyond heaven. When reminded, the wings begin to grow back, but as they are not yet able to rise, the afflicted gaze aloft and pay no attention to what goes on below, bringing on the charge of madness. This
2680-445: The lover will not wish the boy to mature and take a family, all because the lover is shaping him out of desire for pleasure rather than what is best. At some point, "right-minded reason" will take the place of "the madness of love", and the lover's oaths and promises to his boy will be broken. Phaedrus believes that one of the greatest goods given is the relationship between lover and boy. This relationship brings guidance and love into
2747-401: The myth of the chariot. The charioteer is filled with warmth and desire as he gazes into the eyes of the one he loves. The good horse is controlled by its sense of shame, but the bad horse, overcome with desire, does everything it can to go up to the boy and suggest to it the pleasures of sex . The bad horse eventually wears out its charioteer and partner, and drags them towards the boy; yet when
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2814-411: The nature of the human soul shown in the famous Chariot Allegory. Socrates runs into Phaedrus on the outskirts of Athens. Phaedrus has just come from the home of Epicrates of Athens , where Lysias , son of Cephalus , has given a speech on love. Socrates, stating that he is "sick with passion for hearing speeches", walks into the countryside with Phaedrus. Socrates is hoping that Phaedrus will repeat
2881-890: The nymphs, and the Muses, in addition to the unusually explicit characterization of his own daemon. The importance of divine inspiration is demonstrated in its connection with the importance of religion, poetry and art, and above all else, love. Eros, much like in the Symposium , is contrasted from mere desire of the pleasurable and given a higher, heavenly function. Unlike in the Ion , a dialogue dealing with madness and divine inspiration in poetry and literary criticism , madness here must go firmly hand in hand with reason, learning, and self-control in both love and art. This rather bold claim has puzzled readers and scholars of Plato's work for centuries because it clearly shows that Socrates saw genuine value in
2948-411: The orator also had to have at his command a wide body of knowledge to permit improvisation, to respond to questions, and to refute opposing arguments. Where today's speech-making tends to be a staged, one-way affair, in former times, much oration occurred as part of debates, dialogues, and other settings, in which orators had to react to others. Moreover, rhetoricians also recognized that the credibility of
3015-428: The other hand, are overcome when they see a bodily form that has captured true beauty well, and their wings begin to grow. When this soul looks upon the beautiful boy it experiences the utmost joy; when separated from the boy, intense pain and longing occur, and the wings begin to harden. Caught between these two feelings, the lover is in utmost anguish, with the boy the only doctor for the pain. Socrates then returns to
3082-434: The other is neither. As souls are immortal, those lacking bodies patrol all of heaven so long as their wings are in perfect condition. When a soul sheds its wings, it comes to earth and takes on an earthly body that then seems to move itself. These wings lift up heavy things to where the gods dwell and are nourished and grow in the presence of the wisdom, goodness, and beauty of the divine. However, foulness and ugliness make
3149-404: The outside have no soul, while those that move from within have a soul. Moving from within, all souls are self-movers, and hence their immortality is necessary. Then begins the famous chariot allegory. A soul, says Socrates, is like the "natural union of a team of winged horses and their charioteer". While the gods have two good horses, everyone else has a mixture: one is beautiful and good, while
3216-469: The positive part of passionate nature (e.g., righteous indignation); while the other represents the soul's irrational passions, appetites, or concupiscent nature. The charioteer directs the entire chariot/soul, trying to stop the horses from going different ways, and to proceed towards enlightenment. Plato describes a "great circuit" which souls make as they follow the gods in the path of enlightenment. Those few souls which are fully enlightened are able to see
3283-467: The practice and mastery of an art . As they walk out into the countryside, Socrates tries to convince Phaedrus to repeat the speech of Lysias which he has just heard. Phaedrus makes several excuses, but Socrates suspects strongly that Phaedrus has a copy of the speech with him. Saying that while Lysias is present, he would never allow himself to be used as a training partner for Phaedrus to practice his own speech-making on, he asks Phaedrus to expose what he
3350-441: The preceding speeches, Socrates embarks on a proof of the divine origin of this fourth sort of madness. It is a proof, he says, that will convince "the wise if not the clever". He begins by briefly proving the immortality of the soul. A soul is always in motion and as a self-mover has no beginning. A self-mover is itself the source of everything else that moves. So, by the same token, it cannot be destroyed. Bodily objects moved from
3417-493: The procession works its way upward, it eventually makes it up to the high ridge of heaven where the gods take their stands and are taken in a circular motion to gaze at all that is beyond heaven. What is outside of heaven, says Socrates, is quite difficult to describe, lacking color, shape, or solidity, as it is the subject of all true knowledge, visible only to intelligence. The gods delight in these things and are nourished. Feeling wonderful, they are taken around until they make
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#17327731169723484-652: The rhetor who is gathering items for reserve in the memory must be thinking simultaneously about what's available now that might be useful later. Secondly, memory requires an attunement during the moment of speaking or composing, a recognition of the right time for recalling an illustrative example, an argument, and so on" (317). Ancient peoples used elaborate systems , such as the method of loci , to store large amounts of information in their memories. Today, we use literate and electronic memory systems. Literate memory systems include books, periodicals, and libraries. Electronic systems include computers, databases, computer software,
3551-592: The same subject. When Phaedrus begs to hear it, however, Socrates refuses to give the speech. Phaedrus warns him that he is younger and stronger, and Socrates should "take his meaning" and "stop playing hard to get". Finally, after Phaedrus swears on the plane tree that he will never recite another speech for Socrates if Socrates refuses, Socrates, covering his head, consents. Socrates, rather than simply listing reasons as Lysias had done, begins by explaining that while all men desire beauty, some are in love and some are not. We are all ruled, he says, by two principles: one
3618-416: The same to all listeners; the other sort, such as "good" or "justice", lead people in different directions. Lysias failed to make this distinction, and accordingly, failed to even define what "love" itself is in the beginning; the rest of his speech appears thrown together at random, and is, on the whole, very poorly constructed. Socrates then goes on to say, Socrates's speech, on the other hand, starts with
3685-418: The speech proceeds to explain all the reasons why it is better to give your favor to a non-lover rather than a true lover. Friendship with a non-lover, he says, demonstrates objectivity and prudence; it doesn't create gossip when you are seen together; it doesn't involve jealousy; and it allows for a much larger pool of possible partners. You will not be giving your favor to someone who is "more sick than sound in
3752-483: The speech. They sit by a stream under a plane tree and a chaste tree , and the rest of the dialogue consists of oration and discussion. The dialogue does not set itself as a re-telling of the day's events. It is given in the direct words of Socrates and Phaedrus, without other interlocutors to introduce the story. This is in contrast to dialogues such as the Symposium , in which Plato sets up multiple layers between
3819-605: The speech. An important feature of delivering a speech was finding ways to make one's audience remember one's speech topic. One had to be sure to one's audience learned the information or ideas presented to it. The third element of memory has to do with using quotes, facts, or anecdotes that could be used in future speeches. A professional orator is known to always have a treasury of rhetorical fodder close at all times. Phaedrus (dialogue) The Phaedrus ( / ˈ f iː d r ə s / ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Φαῖδρος , translit. Phaidros ), written by Plato ,
3886-411: The structure of discourse to some extent. For example, as part of dispositio , some attention was paid to creating structures (such as the divisio , an outline of the major arguments of a discourse) that would also aid memory. Some writers also discussed the use of various mnemonic devices to assist speakers. But rhetoricians also viewed memoria as requiring more than just rote memorization. Rather,
3953-521: The time comes. A lover's friendship is divine, Socrates concludes, while that of a non-lover offers only cheap, human dividends, and tosses the soul about on earth for 9,000 years. He apologizes to the gods for the previous speeches, and Phaedrus joins him in the prayer. After Phaedrus concedes that this speech was certainly better than any Lysias could compose, they begin a discussion of the nature and uses of rhetoric itself. After showing that speech making itself isn't something reproachful, and that what
4020-413: The wings shrink and disappear. In heaven, he explains, there is a procession led by Zeus , who looks after everything and puts things in order. All the gods, except for Hestia , follow Zeus in this procession. While the chariots of the gods are balanced and easier to control, other charioteers must struggle with their bad horse, which will drag them down to earth if it has not been properly trained. As
4087-500: The world of the forms in all its glory. Some souls have difficulty controlling the black horse, even with the help of the white horse. They may bob up into the world of the forms, but at other times enlightenment is hidden from them. If overcome by the black horse or forgetfulness, the soul loses its wings and is pulled down to earth. Should that happen, the soul is incarnated into one of nine kinds of person, according to how much truth it beheld. In order of decreasing levels of truth seen,
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#17327731169724154-512: Was aided by " memory tables ", which were first available in manuscript form, and were, from the 1470s onwards, some of the first products of the printing press. (Source: Paul Gehl, A Moral Art: Grammar, Society, and Culture in Trecento Florence (1993).) Memory, the fourth canon of rhetoric, and invention, the first canon, are connected. The ad Herennium states that memory is the "treasury of things invented", indirectly referring to
4221-421: Was among the most radiant things to see beyond heaven, and on earth it sparkles through vision, the clearest of our senses. Some have not been recently initiated, and mistake this reminder for beauty itself and only pursue desires of the flesh. This pursuit of pleasure, then, even when manifested in the love of beautiful bodies, is not "divine" madness, but rather just having lost one's head. The recent initiates, on
4288-407: Was believed that spirits and nymphs inhabited the country, and Socrates specifically points this out after the long palinode with his comment about listening to the cicadas . After originally remarking that "landscapes and trees have nothing to teach me, only people do", Socrates goes on to make constant remarks concerning the presence and action of the gods in general, nature gods such as Pan and
4355-442: Was still the medium for critical debate. Unlike public speakers of today, who use notes or who read their speeches, good orators were expected to deliver their speeches without such aids. Memoria was the discipline of recalling the arguments of a discourse. It generally received less attention from writers than other parts of rhetoric, as there is less to be said about the subject. However, the need to memorize speeches did influence
4422-432: Was the central medium for intellectual and political life in ancient Greece. Legal proceedings, political debates, philosophical inquiry were all conducted through spoken discourse. Many of the great texts from that age were not written texts penned by the authors we associate them with, but were instead orations written down by followers and students. In Roman times, while there was a much greater body of written work, oration
4489-604: Was to disperse Theuth's gifts to the people of Egypt. After Theuth remarks on his discovery of writing as a remedy for the memory, Thamus responds that its true effects are likely to be the opposite; it is a remedy for reminding, not remembering, he says, with the appearance but not the reality of wisdom. Future generations will hear much without being properly taught, and will appear wise but not be so, making them difficult to get along with. No written instructions for an art can yield results clear or certain, Socrates states, but rather can only remind those that already know what writing
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