Featured on PDR in the collection The Steps of Life

The idea of a human's life being divisible into distinct stages has been around for millennia, a recurring theme in the literature and art running through all historical periods and places. The early Greeks were particularly fond of the idea, the earliest reference being from lawmaker, and poet Solon (ca. 600 BC), who had ten stages of seven years each. Hippocrates (ca. 450 BC) had seven stages, while Aristotle (ca. 350 BC) spoke of three: youth, prime of life, and old age. The idea is, however, perhaps made most famous by William Shakespeare who has Jacques in As You Like It speak some of The Bard's most famous lines: