The ancient Greek lawgiver Solon divided the human life cycle into ten stages of seven years each:
0-7 – A boy at first is the man; unripe; then he casts his teeth; milk-teeth befitting the child he sheds his 7th year;
7-14 – Then to his seven years God adding another seven, signs of approaching manhood show in the bud;
14-21 – Still, in the third of the sevens his limbs are growing; his chin touched with a fleecy down; the bloom of the cheek gone;
21-28 – Now in the 4th of the 7’s ripen to greatest completeness the powers of the man and his worth becomes plain to see;
28-35 – In the fifth he bethinks him that this is the season for courting, bethinks him that sons will preserve and continue his line;
35-42 – Now in the 6th his mind, ever open to virtue, broadens, and never inspires him to profitless deeds;
42-56 – [Two stages combined] Seven times 7, and 8; the tongue and the mind for fourteen years together are now at their best;
56-63 – Still in the ninth is he able, but never so nimble in speech and in wit as he was in the days of his prime;
63-70 – Who to the tenth has attained, and has lived to complete it, has come to the time to depart on the ebb tide of death.
For more on ancient Greek perspectives on the life cycle, see: The Eight-Fold Year and the Stages of Life
For more information about the stages of life in different cultures and traditions, see Thomas Armstrong, The Human Odyssey: Navigating the Twelve Stages of Life
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