The ancient Greeks generally abhorred aging, as it represented a decline from highly prized youth and vigor.
However, older warriors, elder philosophers, and statesmen were typically well treated. Interestingly, the Spartans, who valued physical ideals, also highly esteemed the wisdom of elderly citizens1. The Greek philosopher Aristotle had an extremely negative view of the elderly, believing that the cooling of the humors contributed to a characteristically pessimistic and cowardly demeanor among the old2. So, while there was a mix of attitudes, it’s safe to say that the perception of old age varied among different segments of ancient Greek society
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