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In Memory of Simonides: Poetry and Mnemotechnics chez Nasidienus

This paper investigates the presence in Hor. Sat. 2.8 of a cluster of images alluding to the traditional depiction of Simonides as the poetic originator of the art of memory. In particular, it connects Fundanius' and Simonides' ability to recite the guest-lists of dinner parties they attended by recalling the position each diner occupied at the table. It also connects the incident of the canopy collapse with the far more tragic collapse of the dining-room ceiling in the traditional account of the invention of mnemotechnics. Finally, it suggests that the evocation of Simonides has a metapoetic dimension connected with Horace's account of his poetic formation and choices.