Did people in the middle ages re-enact ancient times?

Question

I just went to a festival in Northern Italy, which was set to mimic the middles ages. The food, cutlery (or, the lack of it), entertainment, were all set to match the times. I've been to many events/restaurants around Europe that are set to re enact the middle ages.Is this a new phenomenon of re enacting a different period in time? Or, did people in the middle ages re enact the ancient times?

mattbgates · Accepted Answer

It is very likely that plays were performed by traveling minstrels who had knowledge based on Ancient Greek and Roman mythology, as those stories would've been known and passed down, such as portraying Alexander the Great, Odyssey, and the Trojan Wars.

ZunarJ5 · Answer

Literally, this was the Renaissance.

kratom_sandwich · Answer

This would be an ideal question for/r/askhistorians &hellip; the sub is heavily moderated and answers are well sourced.

muzani · Answer

I imagine they do most of the things we do today. They play games of chance. They have feasts.
There's a lot of stuff that's attributed to "ritual" and "religion", but I believe a lot of that is simply entertainment. Aristotle wrote in Poetics of Greek epics being unnecessary spectacle, which makes The Odyssey sound like The Avengers of the era. 3000 years from now, people will talk of Batman worship. The animal headed deities of the ancient era could just be a furry thing.
Also take note that Ancient Greece and Egypt lasted for a very long time. By Cleopatra's time, the Pyramid of Giza had been around for over 2000 years. It could well be that they did reenactments back then too.