History of Old Age: From Antiquity to the Renaissance

by Georges Minois, Georges Minois

History of Old Age is the first major study of the ways in which old age has been perceived in western culture throughout history. Georges Minois paints a vast fresco, starting with the first old man to relate his own story—an Egyptian scribe some 4500 years ago—and ending with the deaths of Elizabeth I and Henry IV in the sixteenth century. Tracing the changing conceptions of the nature, value, and burden of the old, Minois argues that western history during this period is marked by great fluctuation in the social and political role of the aged.

Minois shows how, in ancient Greece, the cult of youth and beauty on the one hand, and the reverence for the figure of the Homeric sage, on the other, created an ambivalent attitude toward the aged. This ambiguity appears again in the contrast between the active role that older citizens played in Roman politics and their depiction in satirical literature of the period. Christian literature in the Middle Ages also played a large part in defining society's perception of the old, both in the image of the revered holy sage and in the total condemnation of the aged sinner.

Drawing on literary texts throughout, Minois considers the interrelation of literary, religious, medical, and political factors in determining the social fate of the elderly and their relationship to society. This book will be of great interest to social and cultural historians, as well as to general readers interested in the subject of the aged in society today.

Genres: History

354 pages, Hardcover

First published January 28, 1987

About the author

Georges Minois est un historien français né en 1946. Ancien élève de l'École normale supérieure, il est agrégé et docteur en histoire. Il a exercé la profession de professeur d'histoire et de géographie jusqu'en 2007.

Reviews

[Seneka Najmłodszy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moim zdaniem bardzo udana monografia, w której autor korzystając z szerokiego katalogu źródeł historycznych opisuje sposób postrzegania ludzi starszych w poszczególnych epokach. Szczególnie ciekawe było dla mnie zwrócenie uwagi na tytułowy problem w znanych dziełach literackich (typu Iliada, czy Dekameron), którego normalnie się nie zauważa. Problemem może być zbytnie utożsamienie rzeczywistej mentalności ludzi dawnych epok (przede wszystkim w starożytności i średniowieczu) z obrazami przekazywanymi w dziełach kultury, ale z drugiej strony często są to jedyne posiadane przez nas informacje, więc jest to chyba nie do uniknięcia.