Wolf, I personally think that at the time Chazal said it, it was true. The general population was rather uneducated and illiterate, very few had decent educations.
We had a discussion a while back (in fact, it was about this specific statement of the Torah Temimah) about whether statements by Chazal or latter rabannan could be influenced by the time/place/culture in which they lived or whether they were said in a vacuum (so to speak) and are eternally true regardless of any latter cultural/temporal/geographic changes.
My statement on the matter was that of course statements by Chazal (or anyone else) are influence by the times/place/culture in which they live. I don’t see how it could be possible to say otherwise. Everyone, Chazal and latter rabanan included, grew up in a place and time with a surrounding culture. All of them had experiences in their lives — good and bad — that shaped who they were. Everyone has personal feelings and opinions on matters. Everyone is affected by the surrounding culture and the events of the day — and that influence shapes what people say.
The Wolf