Six Ages of the World
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| - | {{Template}} | + | {{Template}}[[Image:WinchesterBibleGenesisLastJudgement.GIF|thumb|right|From the [[Winchester Bible]], showing the seven ages within the opening letter "I" of the book of [[Genesis (Hebrew Bible)|Genesis]]. This image is the final age, the [[Last Judgement]]. For images of the other six ages see External links below.]] |
| - | :''[[stage]]'' | + | The '''Six Ages of the World''' is a [[Christian]] historical [[periodization]] outline first written about by [[Augustine of Hippo|Saint Augustine]] ''circa'' 400 AD. It is based along Christian religious events, from the birth of [[Adam and Eve|Adam]] to the events of [[Revelation]]. The six ages of history, with each age lasting approximately a 1000 years, were widely believed and in use throughout the [[Middle Ages]], and until the [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], the writing of history was mostly the filling out of all or some part of this outline. |
| - | '''All the world's a stage''' is the phrase that begins a famous [[soliloquy]] from [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[As You Like It]]'', spoken by the melancholy Jaques. The speech compares the world to a stage and life to a play, and catalogues the seven stages of a man's life, sometimes referred to as the '''seven ages of man''': infant, school-boy, lover, soldier, justice, pantaloon, and second childhood, "sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything". | + | The outline accounts for Seven Ages, just as there are seven days of the week, with the Seventh Age being eternal rest after the [[Last Judgement|Final Judgement]] and [[End Times]], just as the seventh day of the week is reserved for rest. It was normally called the Six Ages of the World because they were the ages of the world, of history, while the Seventh Age was not of this world and lasting forever. |
| - | It is one of Shakespeare's most frequently-quoted passages. | + | |
| - | ==The monologue== | + | |
| - | The full passage is: | + | |
| - | <blockquote>"All the world's a stage,<br /> | ||
| - | And all the men and women merely players;<br /> | ||
| - | They have their exits and their entrances;<br /> | ||
| - | And one man in his time plays many parts,<br /> | ||
| - | His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,<br /> | ||
| - | Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms;<br /> | ||
| - | And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel<br /> | ||
| - | And shining morning face, creeping like snail<br /> | ||
| - | Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,<br /> | ||
| - | Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad<br /> | ||
| - | Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,<br /> | ||
| - | Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,<br /> | ||
| - | Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,<br /> | ||
| - | Seeking the bubble reputation<br /> | ||
| - | Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,<br /> | ||
| - | In fair round belly with good capon lin'd,<br /> | ||
| - | With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,<br /> | ||
| - | Full of wise saws and modern instances;<br /> | ||
| - | And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts<br /> | ||
| - | Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,<br /> | ||
| - | With spectacles on nose and pouch on side;<br /> | ||
| - | His youthful hose, well sav'd, a world too wide<br /> | ||
| - | For his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,<br /> | ||
| - | Turning again toward childish treble, pipes<br /> | ||
| - | And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,<br /> | ||
| - | That ends this strange eventful history,<br /> | ||
| - | Is second childishness and mere oblivion;<br /> | ||
| - | Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything." — Jaques (Act II, Scene VII, lines 139-166)</blockquote> | ||
| - | |||
| - | ==Interpretation== | ||
| - | The man in the poem goes through these stages: | ||
| - | |||
| - | * [[Infancy]]: In this stage he is dependent on others and needs to be constantly attended to. | ||
| - | * [[Childhood]]: It is in this stage that he begins to go to school. He is reluctant to leave the protected environment of his home as he is still not confident enough to exercise his own discretion. | ||
| - | * The [[lover]]: In this stage, comparable to modern day [[adolescence]], he is always remorseful due to some reason or other, especially the loss of love. He tries to express feelings through song or some other cultural activity. | ||
| - | * The [[soldier]]: It is in this age, comparable to modern day [[young adult (psychology)|young adult]], that he thinks less of himself and begins to think more of others. He is very easily aroused and is hot headed. He is always working towards making a reputation for himself and gaining recognition, however shortlived it may be, even at the cost of his own life. | ||
| - | * The [[Judge|justice]]: In this stage, comparable to modern day [[Adulthood|adult]], he has acquired wisdom through the many experiences he has had in life. He has reached a stage where he has gained prosperity and social status. He becomes very attentive of his looks and begins to enjoy the finer things of life. | ||
| - | * [[Old age]]: He begins to lose his charm — both physical and mental. He begins to become the brunt of others' jokes. He loses his firmness and assertiveness, and shrinks in stature and personality. | ||
| - | * Mental [[dementia]] and [[death]]: He loses his status and he becomes a non-entity. He becomes dependent on others like a child and is in need of constant support before finally dying. | ||
| - | |||
| - | ==In Limerick == | ||
| - | The poem was compressed into [[Limerick (poetry)|limerick]] form by the historian [[Robert Conquest]]. | ||
| - | |||
| - | <blockquote>Seven ages: first puking and mewling,<br /> | ||
| - | Then very pissed off with your schooling,<br /> | ||
| - | Then fucks and then fights,<br /> | ||
| - | Then judging chaps' rights,<br /> | ||
| - | Then sitting in slippers, then drooling.</blockquote> | ||
| - | ===The Riddle of the Sphinx=== | ||
| - | The Sphinx is said to have guarded the entrance to<!--any other area needs to be made specific--> the Greek city of Thebes, and to have asked a riddle of travelers to allow them passage. The exact riddle asked by the Sphinx was not specified by early tellers of the stories, and was not standardized as the one given below until late in Greek history.<ref>{{cite book|last=Edmunds|first=Lowell|title=The Sphinx in the Oedipus Legend|year=1981|publisher=Hain|location=Königstein im Taunus|isbn=3-445-02184-8}}</ref> | ||
| - | |||
| - | It was said in late lore that [[Hera]] or [[Ares]] sent the Sphinx from her [[Ethiopia]]n homeland (the Greeks always remembered the foreign origin of the Sphinx) to [[Thebes (Greece)|Thebes]] in Greece where she asks all passersby the most famous [[riddle]] in history: “Which creature in the morning goes on four legs, at mid-day on two, and in the evening upon three, and the more legs it has, the weaker it be?” She strangled and devoured anyone unable to answer. [[Oedipus]] solved the riddle by answering: Man—who crawls on all fours as a baby, then walks on two feet as an adult, and then walks with a cane in old age. By some accounts<ref>{{cite book | last=Grimal | first=Pierre | others=trans. A. R. Maxwell-Hyslop | title=The Dictionary of Classical Mythology | isbn=0631201025 | publisher=Blackwell Publishing | year=1996 }} (entry "Oedipus", p. 324)</ref> (but much more rarely), there was a second riddle: "There are two sisters: one gives birth to the other and she, in turn, gives birth to the first." The answer is "day and night" (both words are feminine in Greek). | ||
| - | |||
| - | Bested at last, the tale continues, the Sphinx then threw herself from her high rock and died. An alternative version tells that she devoured herself. Thus Oedipus can be recognized as a "[[liminal]]" or threshold figure, helping effect the transition between the old religious practices, represented by the death of the Sphinx, and the rise of the new, [[Twelve Olympians|Olympian]] gods. | ||
| - | |||
| - | In [[Jean Cocteau]]'s retelling of the Oedipus legend, ''[[The Infernal Machine]]'', the Sphinx tells Oedipus the answer to the riddle, to kill herself so that she did not have to kill anymore, and also to make him love her. He leaves without ever thanking her for giving him the answer to the riddle. The scene ends when the Sphinx and [[Anubis]], who is there to kill the victims who cannot answer the riddle, ascend back to the heavens. | ||
| - | |||
| - | ==See also== | ||
| - | *[[Riddle of the Sphinx]] | ||
| - | *[[Solomon Grundy]] | ||
| - | *[[Six Ages of the World]] | ||
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Image:WinchesterBibleGenesisLastJudgement.GIF
From the Winchester Bible, showing the seven ages within the opening letter "I" of the book of Genesis. This image is the final age, the Last Judgement. For images of the other six ages see External links below.
The Six Ages of the World is a Christian historical periodization outline first written about by Saint Augustine circa 400 AD. It is based along Christian religious events, from the birth of Adam to the events of Revelation. The six ages of history, with each age lasting approximately a 1000 years, were widely believed and in use throughout the Middle Ages, and until the Enlightenment, the writing of history was mostly the filling out of all or some part of this outline.
The outline accounts for Seven Ages, just as there are seven days of the week, with the Seventh Age being eternal rest after the Final Judgement and End Times, just as the seventh day of the week is reserved for rest. It was normally called the Six Ages of the World because they were the ages of the world, of history, while the Seventh Age was not of this world and lasting forever.
Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Six Ages of the World" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.
