Lecture series by Philippe Aries, and translated from French by Patricia M. Ranum
1974, Johns Hopkins University Press
I'm more interested in the first part about death in antiquity.
- Attitudes towards death in antiquity "...a very old, very durable, very massive sentiment of familiarity with death, with neither fear nor despair, halfway between passive resignation and mystical trust." p103
- And again, "And they departed easily, as if they were just moving into a new house." p13ft17 A. Solzhenitsyu, Cancer Ward (New York 1969) p96-97
- On Life and Death: "[T]he man of the Middle Ages was very acutely conscious that he had merely been granted a stay of execution, that this delay was always present with him, shattering his ambitions and poisoning his pleasures. And the man felt a love of life which we today can scarcely understand, perhaps because of our increased longevity." p44-45
- He makes a point about the trading places of sex and death, where sex used to be more hidden and yet kids came to the deathbed, whereas now kids see racey television shows but are told 'Grandpa went on vacation'... p92
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