Our modern societies are not the first societies expressing their grave concern with the environmental and social changes brought about by global historical developments. Similar historical circumstances in the past brought about similar reactions by the individual members of society. The social and psychological impact of today's globalization, which makes the individual feel unable to actively participate but only passively observe what one could term as "the making of history" , was similarly felt in the Mediterranean world during the Hellenistic and Roman times, which is characterized by the formation of large empires where the chance of the individual to participate in decision making was almost non-existent. At the same time, the development of large urban centers all around the Mediterranean and the more intensive exploitation of natural resources brought about by developments in technology and engineering created an environmental crisis that was, mutatis mutandis, in many ways similar to what we are experiencing today, at least with regard to its psychological impact on the individual. Among the reactions of the individual was the composition and great popularity of the so-called Late Antique novels with their exotic and escapist subject matters. Similar social and environmental conditions existed also in the Near East soon after the rise of Islam and the Arab conquests. The Arabs then ceased to be a nomadic people of the desert and became sedentarized and urbanized. The nostalgia for the past and for a simpler way of life is reflected, for example, in the education of Umayyad princes in the desert, and uninterrupted composition of traditional poems set in a Bedouin camp at a time when most Arabs, and even the poets themselves, did not lead a nomadic life in the desert.

It seems to me that today's nostalgia for the past is reflected not only in literature (the example that comes to mind is the international success of Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose" about a decade ago), but also in 20th century's most popular form of entertainment, the movies. The amount of movies set one to two hundred years ago that are produced, as well as their popularity (examples: The Jane Austin movies, Titanic, Shakespeare in Love) reflect an escapist tendency among the public. Even movies that are purportedly set in the future, such as Star Wars and is sequels and prequels, exploit themes received from medieval legends or from a romanticized view of aspects of the medieval civilization (mysticism, code of honor etc.). The Middle Ages as a source of inspiration is even reflected visually in this movie, at least as far as one can judge from the scenes released thus far (cf. the dome of the 6th century Byzantine church of Hagia Sophia). This is not to say that contemporary popular entertainment advocates a return to the past. Rather, the escapist tendencies of contemporary popular entertainment reflect the possibly subconscious but seemingly growing discomfort of the public with the social and environmental conditions it is forced to live in.