Why does Hesiod describe his own time as the Age of Iron?

In his epic poem Works and Days, Hesiod describes his own era as the Age of Iron to characterize the profound moral and social decline he observed in his contemporary world.12

This period represents the final and most wretched stage in his mythic scheme of five successive races of humanity. Hesiod viewed his time as the antithesis of the Golden Age, marked by pervasive injustice, brutality, and the abandonment of the gods. He believed that humanity’s situation was increasingly deplorable, noting that the presence of misery and evil had been unleashed upon the world by Pandora when she opened her jar.321

Hesiod’s classification reflects his deep pessimism regarding the state of his community, where he saw leaders abetting corruption and greed, such as the schemes of his brother, Perses. He felt so disillusioned by this universal moral decline that he expressed a wish to have been born either before or after this era, fearing a future where the situation would become even worse.123