"What Was Hesiod's View of the Mankind's Past and Future?" (Works and Days)

     Well, Hesiod worshiped the gods of Olympus, so his view of the past and future revolves mainly around them.

     When he talks about the past of mankind, it consists of five races of men.

1. gold: the first race
2. silver: the second race
3. bronze: the third race
4. the demi-gods: the fourth race
5. iron: the fifth race (our race)

     The past races of men were all destroyed by Zeus, and according to Hesiod, our race will be destroyed in the future as well.
   
     Another thing to keep in mind is that each one of these races are supposed to be worse than the one before them.  Taking this into consideration, I believe that his view of Mankind's past was both good and bad, because although he notes the negative qualities in "Works and Days", he also states the good.  And as far as the future goes, it can only be negative if each race gets worse than the other.

     Thanks for reading, and please let me know what you think!