Distant Mirrors Dimly Lit

In the dim light we might come to know ourselves a little better

Depression, the insecurity of the modern family, the need for privacy, the mania for leisure, fear of fading memory, anger and the call for revenge; they all flicker in the shadows of Greece and Rome.

But what can we know of these states? Were they experienced in the same way in antiquity? How great the differences, how pronounced the similarities?

Distant Mirrors Dimly Lit is a six-part radio series developed and presented by Australian born classicist Peter Toohey. It examines how the lives of the ancients relate to ours, through the exploration of six contemporary themes: Anger, Privacy, Leisure, Depression, Family and Memory.

The series was first broadcast on Radio National in July and August 2003

Program Episodes

Anger | Listen
Have we always felt the way we do? The West can trace science, democracy, styles of literature, even the flush toilet to Ancient Rome and Greece. But what about our interior states? The ancients had much to say about anger, it was a feature of pre-modern, slave-owning societies. But it’s still a part of ours, often attached to retaliation and revenge. Are we as angry as we used to be? [ more ]

Privacy | Listen
We live in a time of two powerful, contradictory forces: the drive for private freedom versus the pull of communal restraint. The need for private, individual expression remains strong. But governments devise ever-more intricate laws to ban and proscribe public behaviour. Where did the balance lie in antiquity? Where does it lie now? [ more ]

Leisure | Listen
Our pursuit of leisure has fuelled a multi-billion dollar industry. How did the Greeks and Romans understand leisure? Were eating and drinking, sport, or the theatre means for killing time, or did they have more profound significance for Greeks and Romans? [ more ]

Depression | Listen
The Western world is depressed. Record numbers of people are diagnosed with the malady. Young people, the aged, women men, rural workers, immigrants, blue-collar, managers; no one seems immune. Not even the multi-million dollar leisure industry can keep it at bay. Is it unique to our modern world? Did the Greeks or Romans get depressed as we understand it? Did they conceive of suicide as a solution, as, unfortunately, many do in our world? [ more ]

Family | Listen
The family appears to be under duress. Divorce, consumerism, mass media and an overtly sexualized society are said to be eroding the basic unit of our society. What can Ancient Rome and Greece tell us about family arrangements and filial bonding? [ more ]

Memory | Listen
Memory is extraordinarily important to us, it helps us define our identity. The Greeks and the Romans saw memory in a completely different way. They wanted to reenact the past, so that through memory (or better, through memorialisation) they could make the present part of the past. [ more ]

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