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According to Greek mythology, humankind passed through a number of eras that were characterised by specific events, and were known in ancient Greece as the Ages of Man. Hesiod, a famous ancient Greek poet, recognised five ages, while Ovid, a Roman poet, believed there were four.
The Ages of Man are the historical stages of human existence according to Greek mythology and its subsequent Roman interpretation. Both Hesiod and Ovid offered accounts of the successive ages of humanity, which tend to progress from an original, long-gone age in which humans enjoyed a nearly divine existence to the current age of the writer, in ...
- An Epic Inspiration. According to Greek legend, Hesiod was a farmer from the Boeotian region of Greece who was out tending his sheep one day when he met the Nine Muses.
- The Golden Age. The Golden Age was the mythical first period of man. The people of the Golden Age were formed by or for the Titan Cronus, whom the Romans called Saturn.
- Silver and Bronze Ages. During Hesiod's Silver Age, the Olympian god Zeus was in charge. Zeus caused this generation of man to be created as vastly inferior to the gods in appearance and wisdom.
- The Age of Heroes and the Iron Age. For the fourth age, Hesiod dropped the metallurgical metaphor and instead called it the Age of Heroes. The Age of Heroes was a historical period to Hesiod, referring to the Mycenaean age and the stories told by Hesiod's fellow poet Homer.
- Golden age. When the deathless gods created the golden race of men, it was a time of prosperity and peace that allowed all living beings to live in harmony, to be happy and in love.
- Silver age. When the golden age had ended, the golden race still existed and roamed the earth as benevolent spirits. The war, where the Olympians had won, was over and peace was achieved.
- Bronze age. Beings of silver age were sent to the underworld and became known as the blessed spirits of Hades. Zeus was again bored and decided to make a third generation, called the brazen race of men.
- Age of Heroes. After the bronze age Zeus created another race, an honorable race of heroes, who were noble and respected the gods. Among them were also individuals with divine qualities, called demi-gods.
- The Golden Age. The first of Hesiod’s five Ages of Man, was the Golden Age. This first generation of man was created by the supreme Titan god Cronus. These men lived amongst the gods, and as the earth produced an abundance of food, there was no need for them to toil; and nothing troubled them.
- The Silver Age. The Second Age of Man, according to Hesiod, was the Silver Age. Man was created by Zeus, although they were to be greatly inferior to the gods.
- The Bronze Age. The Third Age of Man was the Bronze Age; an age of man once again created by Zeus, this time man was said to have been brought forth from ash trees.
- The Age of Heroes. Hesiod would call the fourth Age of Man, the Age of Heroes; this is the age that dominates the surviving tales of Greek mythology. This was the time of demi-gods and mortal heroes.
The tale of the five ages of man shows a deep pessimism about man's development. While each generation of gods is an improvement on the last, each new race of man is inferior to the last one. Man degenerates from eon to eon. No story could be more at odds with our almost universal belief in man's evolution from savagery to civilization.
Aug 28, 2023 · One of the most enduring parts of Works and Days poem is the Five Ages of Man. Hesiod describes a general descent of man from innocent and pure into evil, with each age a step closer to evil and the destruction of man at the hands of Nemesis and Aidos (goddess of shame).
