# norman-socrates-invention-writing-memory-2026-08-27

## Veille

Entry by **Jeremy Norman** on **HistoryofInformation.com** (timeline "Exploring the History of Information and Media"), dated "circa **370 BC**" for the commented text, site last updated **August 27, 2026** (~600 words, including a long excerpt). It reproduces the passage from **Platon**'s *Phèdre* (274c-275b) where **Socrate** recounts the Egyptian myth of **Theuth** and King **Thamus** on the invention of writing.

## Titre Article

Socrates on the Invention of Writing and the Relationship of Writing to Memory

## Date

2026-08-27

## URL

https://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=3439

## Keywords

Socrate, Platon, Phèdre, writing, memory, myth of Theuth, Thamus, pharmakon, elixir of memory, memory aid, appearance of knowledge, understanding, cognitive externalization, history of information, ancient Greece, Egypt, literacy, mnemonics

## Authors

Jeremy Norman — historien et éditeur de HistoryofInformation.com ; notice de frise chronologique citant Platon (*Phèdre*, v. 370 av. J.-C.).

## Ton

Profile: a brief bibliographer's encyclopedic entry, addressed to a reader curious about the history of media. Norman's commentary amounts to a single two-sentence paragraph; the core of the page is the quotation, which follows Platon's dialogue form: a myth recounted by Socrate, then an exchange between an inventor god and a judging king. The entry does not take a position on Socrate's thesis or its contemporary extensions, nor does it discuss them; it notes only, in the illustration's caption, that the bust of Socrate held at the Louvre cannot be taken as evidence of an actual likeness.

## Pense-betes

- **Context**: in the *Phèdre* (c. 370 BC), Platon has Socrate recount an Egyptian myth. The god **Theuth**, inventor of numbers, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, dice, and above all **letters**, comes to offer them to the king-god **Thamus** (Ammon to the Greeks, at Thebes).
- **Theuth's argument**: writing will make the Egyptians wiser and will improve their memory; it is an *"elixir of memory and wisdom."*
- **Thamus's reply**: the one who originates an art is not the one who judges its usefulness or harm for its users; Theuth, out of a father's affection, attributes to letters a power opposite to the one they actually have.
- **Mechanism of forgetting**: students will rely on external marks "that are not part of themselves" and will no longer exercise their own memory; writing is an elixir of *reminding*, not of memory.
- **Appearance of knowledge**: readers will read a great deal without instruction, will seem to know everything while for the most part being ignorant and difficult to deal with, *"not wise, but only appear wise."*
- **Timeline themes**: writing, paleography, and calligraphy; education, reading, and literacy; memory, mnemonics, and data storage.
- ⚠️ **Scope**: the page reproduces an English translation of the passage (the translator is not indicated) and presents no scholarly analysis; the date given is the estimated composition date of the *Phèdre*, while the site's update date serves as the entry's date.

## RésuméDe400mots

Jeremy Norman's entry on HistoryofInformation.com concerns a passage from Platon's *Phèdre*, written around 370 BC, in which Socrate recounts the Egyptian myth of the creation of writing. Norman distills its substance into two sentences: Socrate charges that writing weakens the necessity and power of memory, and allows one to feign understanding rather than truly understand. The rest of the page consists of the quoted dialogue, the passage from 274c to 275b, accompanied by a map, an illustration of a bust of Socrate held at the Louvre, and a list of themes.

In the narrative, Socrate says he heard of an ancient god of Naucratis, in Egypt, named Theuth, whose sacred bird is the ibis. Theuth invented numbers, calculation, geometry, astronomy, dice and board games, and above all letters. At that time the god Thamus, whom the Greeks call Ammon, reigns in the great city of Upper Egypt that the Greeks call Thebes. Theuth presents his inventions to him so that they may be passed on to the other Egyptians. Thamus asks what each one is for and expresses praise or blame according to his judgment.

When it comes to letters, Theuth claims they will make the Egyptians wiser and will improve their memory: he has found an elixir of memory and wisdom. Thamus replies that one man may originate an art, but another must judge its usefulness or harm for those who use it. Theuth, the father of letters, out of affection attributes to them a power opposite to the one they actually have.

According to Thamus, the invention will produce forgetfulness in the minds of those who learn it, since they will no longer exercise their memory. Their reliance on external marks, which are not part of themselves, will discourage the use of their own memory. Theuth has therefore invented not an elixir of memory but one of reminding. He offers his students the appearance of wisdom, not true wisdom: they will read many things without instruction and will therefore seem to know a great deal, while for the most part being ignorant and difficult to deal with, since they are not wise but only appear to be.

The page classifies the entry under three themes of the timeline: writing, paleography, calligraphy, and epigraphy; education, scholarship, reading, and literacy; memory, mnemonics, and data storage. It states a last update date of August 27, 2026.

## GrapheDeConnaissance

- Jeremy Norman —a_créé→ HistoryofInformation.com (TECHNOLOGIE, 0.85)
- Jeremy Norman —publie→ Socrates on the Invention of Writing and the Relationship of Writing to Memory (DOCUMENT, 0.95)
- Socrates on the Invention of Writing and the Relationship of Writing to Memory —référence→ Phèdre (DOCUMENT, 0.97)
- Platon —a_créé→ Phèdre (DOCUMENT, 0.98)
- Phèdre —publie→ mythe de Theuth et Thamus (CONCEPT, 0.95)
- Socrate —affirme_que→ l'écriture produira l'oubli en dispensant d'exercer la mémoire (AFFIRMATION, 0.97)
- Socrate —affirme_que→ l'écriture donne l'apparence de la sagesse et non la sagesse véritable (AFFIRMATION, 0.97)
- Thamus —s_oppose_à→ Theuth (PERSONNE, 0.93)
- Theuth —a_créé→ l'écriture (TECHNOLOGIE, 0.9)
- Theuth —affirme_que→ les lettres sont un élixir de mémoire et de sagesse (AFFIRMATION, 0.95)
- Thamus —affirme_que→ l'inventeur d'un art n'est pas juge de son utilité pour ses usagers (AFFIRMATION, 0.95)
- l'écriture —réduit→ pratique de l'effort de remémoration par les élèves (AFFIRMATION, 0.88)
- l'écriture —permet→ rappel externe (CONCEPT, 0.88)
- mythe de Theuth et Thamus —s_applique_à→ mémoire (CONCEPT, 0.85)
- mémoire —s_oppose_à→ apparence de savoir (CONCEPT, 0.8)

---
Canonical: https://www.thekb.eu/en/fiches/norman-socrates-invention-writing-memory-2026-08-27/