Episode 126: Reconstructing Emotion in History

Reflecting History

"History is a dialogue between the past and the present." So how do we know anything about history? To what extent is our knowledge of history merely modern day historians projecting their own thoughts and interpretations on the past? How do we know that ancient peoples felt the same emotions we do? What role should emotion, feeling, and motivation play in the study of history? Archaelogist Guy Middleton's paper "I Will Follow You Into the Dark: Death and Emotion in a Mycenaean Royal Funeral" provides a reconstruction of an Ancient King's burial in order to give us insight into these complex questions.

You can read the paper here: https://www.academia.edu/36792792/I_will_follow_you_into_the_dark_Death_and_emotion_in_a_Mycenaean_royal_funeral_

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