Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks

52 Daily Life of the Ancient Greeks
Iron and that it is their lot “never to cease from labour and sorrowing
by day, and dying by night” (lines 176–78). Yet if conditions
seem bad now, they are destined to become much worse, for the
time is fast approaching when infants will be born with the marks
of old age upon them. Human life span, in other words, will have
so contracted that infancy and old age will be virtually indistinguishable
from one another.
The father will have nothing in common with his sons, nor sons with their
father, nor a guest with his host, nor friend with friend, nor will a brother
be beloved as before. Men will dishonor their parents as they age rapidly.
They will blame them, speaking harsh words. Stiff-necked, they will think
nothing of the gods. Nor will they repay to their aged parents the gift of
their own nurturing. (lines 182–88)
When that apocalyptic moment is reached, which reflects a decline
in moral standards in line with the earth’s biological decline, Zeus
will annihilate the human race. Even so, the forlorn wish that prefaces
the poet’s description of the Age of Iron—“O that I was not
among men of the fifth race, but had either died before it or been
born after it” (line 174f.)—seems to hint at a cyclical repetition
involving a return to the Golden Age. Hesiod does not appear to
have regarded the invention of iron as marking an improvement
in technology, nor does he seem to have been of the opinion that
technological advance in itself represents a threat to the future of
the planet, though the seeds of this modern belief lie embedded in
the myth.
Making Connections
Imagine you are an Athenian peasant who resides in the
coastal deme of Marathon a full 26 miles from Athens. Your
whole experience thus far has been limited to the Attic countryside.
You now visit Athens for the first time in your life
at the age of 18. Describe your first day, including your impressions of
both the people and the buildings. There may be much that you do not
understand, so you will probably need to ask questions of those whom
you encounter along the way. How do they react to you? Perhaps you
have come with your family and will want to record the reactions of
other family members.