Memory

Invocations of the Muse in Homer and Hesiod: A Cognitive Approach

“… 65 Barrett (2004) 23. It is interesting to note that, although she does not use the concept of minimal counter-intuitiveness, Minchin (2001) 18, 208 echoed the idea in the statement that a good narrator tells a story that is a) understandable and easy to follow for the audience (we could say that it is ‘intuitive’), and b) also contains ‘an element of the unexpected’ (we could say that it contains a ‘counter-intuitive feature’). Compare this with Atran (2002) 107, who argued that a ‘small proportion of minimally counterintuitive beliefs gives the story a mnemonic advantage over stories with no counterintuitive beliefs or with far too many counterintuitive beliefs’ and ‘such beliefs grab attention, activate intuition, and mobilize inferences in ways that greatly facilitate their mnemonic retention, social transmission, cultural selection, and historical survival’.…”

“… 68 Minton (1962) 190; Murray (1981) 91; Snell (1964) 19; Lenz (1980) 34; Stoddard (2003) 12; Accame (1963) 264; Roth (1976) 336; Redfield (1979) 98; Maehler (1963) 18-19; Minchin (2001) 166; Ledbetter (2003) 26. The only dissenting voice to the inspiration-as-information camp known to me is Pötscher (1986) 15, who, however, failed to present any substantive counter-arguments.…”

“…5.703-4, 8.273, 11.229-300) in which the singer asks a question without mentioning the Muse explicitly. Minchin (2001) 172-4 calls these ‘faded’ invocations.…”

“… 41 Minton (1960) 293; Griffin (1980) 118; Murray (1981) 90; Latacz (1985) 91; Minchin (2001) 90-1; Brügger, Stoevesandt, and Visser (2010) 141.…”