History of the family focus groups, and quantitative surveys. In most cultures of the world, the beginning of family history is set in creation myths. In "Works and Days", the ancient Greek poet Hesiod describes the epic destruction of four previous Ages of Man. The utopia that was the Golden Age was eventually replaced by the current Iron Age; a time when gods made man live in "hopeless misery and toil." Hesiod's second poem Theogony, described the Greek gods' relationships and family ties. Ancient Greeks believed that among them, were descendants of gods who qualified for priesthood or other privileged social status. The Judeo-Christian
A Study of History 23 civilizations identified by Toynbee in vol. Vii. This table does not include what Toynbee terms primitive societies, arrested civilizations, or abortive civilizations. Civilizations are shown in boldface. Toynbee's "Universal Churches" are written in "italic" and are chronologically located between second- and third- generation civilizations, as is described in volume VII. The social scientist Ashley Montagu assembled 29 other historians' articles to form a symposium on Toynbee's "A Study of History", published as The book includes three of Toynbee's own essays: "What I am Trying to Do" (originally published in "International Affairs" vol. 31, 1955); "What the Book is For: