I don't know if it's the same thing as (not only the philosophers, but also many great orators of ancient Greece/etc) the capacity to recite e.g. entire epic po

I don't know if it's the same thing as (not only the philosophers, but also many great orators of ancient Greece/etc) the capacity to recite e.g. entire epic poems from memory, but have always found Vedic Chanting (Pathas) fascinating- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedic_chant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vedic_chant