Vividness and Memory palaces

Two things struck me as I made my way through the beginning of Prudentius and the ancillary reading posted on UBLearns about him.  My own experience was confirmed by reading the ancillary reading in that Prudentius seems to write much more vivid words, at times I would almost describe them as harsh words, ones specifically with a certain picture in mind.  Unlike Rutilius, whom often made me feel as though he was digressing into some other topic to the point where I would forget what I was actually reading about and have to back track, Prudentius uses his excess language to paint a striking picture that in fact enhances what I am reading and perhaps makes it easier to follow.  Instead of seemingly disrupting the reading, they descriptions add a little (and sometimes a lot) extra.

The mention of the "common place" at the beginning of the Psychomachia and the following discussion (I think page 7 of chapter 1 in the ancillary reading, mine doesn't have page numbers) made me think back to our Rhetoric seminar with Professor Dugan last Fall (for those of you who were also in that class), when we talked about memory palaces.  In discussing the importance of memory, it is mentioned that "the narrative structure is a schema to help us organize and transfer to our own memories the linked associations assembled by the writer."  I feel as though although we talked about the idea of memory palaces in a more classical context (i.e Cicero), the idea was alive and well in late antique literature.  I find this to be an interesting concept and perhaps one that worked in even better in the late antique world as Christianity has naturally continued to present day.  And again, the vividness discussed above would certainly play its role in the formation of these so called memory palaces.

(P.S- I apologize if Prudentius shows up as Prudential above as my auto correct really wants it to be Prudential :( )