A student of Theodor Mommsen, the well-known German history and classical scholar, described the first lecture which he heard given by Mommsen at the University of Berlin. At that lecture, the professor portray ancient then as it was in the time of Socrates in the fifth century BCE.
Mommsen was already old, but still blessed with a phenomenal memory. He walked to the blackboard and, without reference to a single note, he traced the location of the temples of ancient Athens, its public buildings and even its groves and wells.
He also marked out the probable location of the houses of famous citizens, the place where Socrates lodged, and the paths walked by the philosopher in his dialogues with eminent disciples. With total conviction, Mommsen sketched in streets and paths of the old greek city.
The writer goes on to tell that after the lecture, as he sat completely awe-inspired at the teacher's display of erudition and memory, he saw an elderly valet enter the lecture hall. On inquiry from one of the other students, he was told that the servant had come to take the professor home since Mommsen did not know the way. The world's greatest authority on ancient Ahens was absolutely lost in his own district of Berlin, where he lived!
Be light on yourself. No one is perfect.
Mommsen was already old, but still blessed with a phenomenal memory. He walked to the blackboard and, without reference to a single note, he traced the location of the temples of ancient Athens, its public buildings and even its groves and wells.
He also marked out the probable location of the houses of famous citizens, the place where Socrates lodged, and the paths walked by the philosopher in his dialogues with eminent disciples. With total conviction, Mommsen sketched in streets and paths of the old greek city.
The writer goes on to tell that after the lecture, as he sat completely awe-inspired at the teacher's display of erudition and memory, he saw an elderly valet enter the lecture hall. On inquiry from one of the other students, he was told that the servant had come to take the professor home since Mommsen did not know the way. The world's greatest authority on ancient Ahens was absolutely lost in his own district of Berlin, where he lived!
Be light on yourself. No one is perfect.
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