The Ancient Greeks blamed sadness on bodily humours called ‘melaina kole’ (black bile). Today, clinical depression is often understood as an imbalance of brain chemicals – although this is a paradigm that many experts believe is overdue for an update. This animation from TED-Ed offers a brief examination of the history of melancholy, scoping how philosophers, poets, writers and scientists have envisioned and altered our understanding of the experience across the ages.
From imbalanced humours to brain chemistry – on the evolution of melancholy
4 March 2021
videoHistory of ideas
How to read ‘The School of Athens’ – a triumph of Renaissance art
25 minutes
videoEthics
A deathbed scenario raises the question: how much power should a promise hold?
5 minutes
videoDemography and migration
The volunteers who offer a last line of care for migrants at a contentious border
30 minutes
videoLove and friendship
What does it mean to say goodbye to a creature that doesn’t know you’re leaving?
13 minutes
videoThinkers and theories
The prison abolitionist who dares to envision a world without ‘unfreedoms’
16 minutes
videoLife stages
Grief, healing and laughter coexist at a unique retreat for widows and widowers
15 minutes
videoMathematics
Spiral into the ‘golden ratio’ – and separate the myths from the maths
4 minutes
videoConsciousness and altered states
What do screens depicting serene natural scenes mean to those living in lock-up?
12 minutes
videoFamily life
A mother and child bond in an unusual prison visitation space in this poignant portrait
11 minutes