Ovid And Melville: An Analysis

The myth detailing the four ages of man profoundly symbolize the growth of culture, human destructiveness, and aging. Ovid and Melville greatly imply that humanity is an ever growing scourge on earth due to human nature.
The first age called the golden age, was peaceful and simple. At the start of culture, the people tend to be simple, only worrying for food and lives, having no caring of arts. As evidenced within the text, the people only know how to gather and hunt for food, they have no knowledge of fire, the world around them, or any heavy weapons. This refers to the very start of groups of men, these early groups did not damage the world around them, like the later ages. The earth was not reaped for its’ bounties. This golden age could
also refer to infancy, because man's’ greatest needs were supplied by Earth, commonly called mother in many cultures.
The next age is the race of silver, these men are described to be inferior to the gold due to the fact that they had to work much harder for food. These men were learning the steps to becoming a more stationary culture, allowing for more caring to be put forth to unnecessary events of life. These ideas allowed these first great cultures to develop even greater knowledge, and become stronger as a civilization. With this added stability, these men could become the men of bronze. This was the start of civilizations fighting back and forth, but still hardly any stealing to be seen. The silver age can be considered childhood as well. This is due to the fact that the men of this age did not truly commit crimes, but did fight among one another. This age of man had to work for their rewards, showing that like children,they must be work for prizes they want.
The last is the age of iron, this can be seen to be the start of man’s desire for precious things, and the knowledge to increase wealth through destruction. This last age is when the Greekss believed that the gods left the earth, due to the sacrilegious and evil nature of the humans at the time. Many cultures followed these ages of man, this can be greatly evident within the vast amount of european cultures with many small groups side by side. This desire of wealth over a neighbor resulted in many great wars. The world is slowly damaged throughout each age by man’s carelessness and greed. The earth’s wounds grow worse throughout the ages, and humanity is viewed as less precious and more of disgusting nature as time goes on. Many also view this as being a degradation of mankind, due to the fact that the simple innocence is slowly lost due to violence and crime to one another. At the end of the final age, the great flood wipes all that are alive, besides two worthy people. This myth of a great flood is prevalent throughout the world, possibly due to the belief that water is a purifier. This great flood purified the earth, and then the two worthy people, repopulate the earth by throwing the bones of their mother behind them. They figure this out to be earth, which shows even at the time of Ovid that humans rely on earth for our wellbeing and that humans must care for the planet in order to live.
As greatly evidenced, man changes throughout time developing knowledge, they became a hardier people that could develop into the great cultures of Greece and Rome. They became one of the most looked at ancient cultures due to their many myths, and amazing art. With this knowledge, man also becomes dangerous. Animals and earth were harmed to gather precious materials in the various ages of man, reaping the earth of things not allowed to humans. The ages of man can also greatly reference the various ages a person goes throughout their life.