According to the ancient Greek poet Hesiod in his poem Works and Days, humanity did not exist as just one continuous creation. He described five successive ages of mankind, each one more flawed than the last. First came the Golden Age — peaceful humans who lived in harmony, free from suffering and conflict. Then came the Silver Age — powerful but arrogant people who disrespected the gods and were destroyed. After them was the Bronze Age — a violent generation obsessed with war that wiped itself

Hesiod's Works and Days