What struck me most about Sara Schlemm’s talk is the continuity of melancholy as theme in Western literature and art. The talk started with an etymological dissection melancholy, bringing us to a discussion of its Ancient Greek root, melankholia, which consists of melan (black) and kholé (bile.) From here we talked about the connection with ancient Humorism and the idea that depression stemmed directly from excess amounts of black bile— or melankholia. From here we moved forward to Shakespeare, and finally to the film Vertigo. Thus we moved from the 2nd century—with Hippocrates and Galen—  to the 17th with our discussion of Hamlet, and finally the 20th with our quick viewing of Vertigo.

What I find amazing— and perhaps also depressing in and of itself— is that this idea of melancholy as a deep, persistent sadness has not only existed and been experienced throughout humanity, but that it has been known so widely as to be represented so prominently in our literature. Considering melancholy’s extensive history, I am hard pressed to find another equally specific idea that has been examined and reexamined over the last 2000 years.