DO WE SHARE THE SAME FATE OF KOSMOS?

Seneca and Ovid on the Golden Age and the Four Ages of Human Beings

Abstract

 Seneca, in his Epistle XC, attributes to Posidonius the thesis that there was a time when wise humans held political power authorized by equally virtuous people: a time called the Golden Age (saeculo quod aureum). However, Seneca disagrees that there were wise humans at that time, as this is a characteristic provided by the use of Philosophy, an expendable tool for a period in which virtue was not knowledge about what is good, evil or indifferent. In this way, due to the non-existence of the sage, things were created for their proper use, which culminates in a harmonious relationship with nature by preventing the emergence of vices.