ABSTRACT
Throughout Greek and Roman antiquity, literary texts (especially but not exclusively poetry) were profoundly associated with memory. Indeed, the Muses, who inspire poetry, are the daughters of the goddess Memory. This chapter explores the ancient poet’s most fundamental task: to preserve memory and make it immortal, immune to the destructive forces of time and chance. Poets celebrate their ability to preserve memory, both of those they name in their poems and their own. Because literature served this purpose, it was always deeply influenced by the developing technologies and institutions of memory (inscriptions, books, libraries). In early Greek poetry, the transmitter of memory is the voice but later authors frequently refer to the material embodiments of their words, in books or on inscribed stones. During the Hellenistic period (323–31 bce), many creators of new literature were also scholars of older texts, now collected in libraries. Literature itself became an object of memory, both a source of inspiration and an obstacle for new composition. Literature was also associated with techniques for memorization, and ancient authors often reflect on both the practical and philosophical aspects of memory as a human achievement.
