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Ovid's Four Ages
The Roman poet Ovid (1st century BC - 1st century AD) tells a similar myth of Four Ages in Book 1.89-150 of the Metamorphoses. His account is similar to Hesiod's with the exception that he omits the Heroic Age.
Ovid emphasizes the justice and peace that defined the Golden Age. He adds that in this age, men did not yet know the art of navigation and therefore did not explore the larger world.
In the Silver Age, Jupiter introduces the seasons and men consequentially learn the art of agriculture and architecture.
In the Bronze Age, Ovid writes, men were prone to warfare, but not impiety.
Finally, in the Iron Age, men demarcate nations with boundaries; they learn the arts of navigation and mining; they are warlike, greedy and impious. Truth, modesty and loyalty are nowhere to be found.
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