Introduction

Abstract

Adolescence is not, as has been previously assumed, a developmental stage that was defined after the industrial revolution. There is substantial historical evidence to suggest that adolescence and youth, as a stage, was recognized by the ancient Romans, Greeks, and even Egyptians. The concept survived through the Dark Ages. In Le Grand Propriétaire, written in 1556, it is stated: “The third age, which is called adolescence, ... ends in the twenty-first year ... and it can go on till thirty or thirty-five. The age is called adolescence because the person is big enough to beget children. In this age the limbs are soft and able to grow and receive strength and vigor from natural heat” (Aries, 1962, p. 21).