View source for Ages of Man

{{Short description|Stages of human existence according to Greco-Roman mythology}}
{{about|mythological ages|the "Seven Ages of Man" speech from Shakespeare's "As You Like It"|All the world's a stage|the one-man show|The Ages of Man (play)}}
{{redirect|Silver age}}{{Primary sources|date=September 2025}}[[File:Goldenes-Zeitalter-1530-2.jpg|thumb|[[Lucas Cranach the Elder]], ''The Golden Age''|300px|right]]
The '''Ages of Man''' are the historical stages of human existence according to [[Greek mythology]] and its subsequent [[interpretatio romana|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 which humans are beset by innumerable pains and evils. In the two accounts that survive from Ancient Greece and Rome, this degradation of the [[human condition]] over time is indicated symbolically with metals of successively decreasing value, yet increasing hardness.

==Hesiod's Five Ages==
[[File:Lucas Cranach the Elder - The Close of the Silver Age (?) - Google Art Project.jpg|Lucas Cranach the Elder, ''The Silver Age''|thumb|upright]]
[[File:John Simon - The Brazen Age - B1970.3.1163 - Yale Center for British Art.jpg|thumb|[[John Simon (engraver)|John Simon]], ''The Brazen Age'']]
[[File:Virgil Solis - Iron Age.jpg|[[Virgil Solis]], ''The Iron Age''|thumb]]

The [[Greeks|Greek]] poet [[Hesiod]] (between 750 and 650 BC) outlined his Five Ages in his poem ''[[Works and Days]]'' (lines 109–201). His list is:
* '''Golden Age''' – The [[Golden Age]] is the age that falls within the rule of [[Cronus]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Hesiod |title=Work and Days}}</ref>{{Reference page|pages=109-120}} Created by the immortals who live on Olympus.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=109-120}} Peace and harmony prevailed during this age. Humans did not have to work to feed themselves, for the earth provided food in abundance.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=109-120}} They lived to very old age but with a youthful appearance and eventually died peacefully.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=109-120}} 
* '''Silver Age''' – The [[Silver Age]] and every age that follows fall within the rule of [[Cronus]]'s successor and son, [[Zeus]].<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=121-139}} Men in the Silver Age lived for one hundred years under the dominion of their mothers.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=121-139}} They lived only a short time as grown adults, and spent that time in strife with one another.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=121-139}} During this Age, men refused to worship the gods and Zeus destroyed them for their impiety.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=121-139}} After death, humans of this age became "blessed spirits" of the underworld.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=140-155}}
* '''Bronze Age''' – This age is also sometimes known as the ''Copper Age'' or '''Brazen Age'''. Men of the Bronze Age were hardened and tough, and the deed of [[Ares]] ([[war]]) and violence were their passion.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=140-155}} Zeus created these humans out of the [[ash tree]].<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=140-155}} Their armor was forged of [[bronze]], as were their homes and tools.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=140-155}} The men of this Age were undone by their own violent ways and left no named spirits; instead, they dwell in the "house of [[Hades]]".<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=140-155}} 
* '''Heroic Age''' – The [[Greek Heroic Age|Heroic Age]] is the one age that does not correspond with any metal. It is also the only age that improves upon the age it follows. It was the heroes and [[Demigod|demigods]] of this Age who fought at [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] in the times of [[Cadmus]] and [[Oedipus]], and during the [[Trojan War]].<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=156-168}} They were taken to [[Fortunate Isles|a land beyond the seas]], ruled by Cronus, with sweet fruits flourishing thrice a year, far from the deathless gods.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=156-168}}
* '''Iron Age''' –  During this age, humans live an existence of toil and misery.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=170-201}} Children dishonor their parents, brother fights with brother, and the social contract between guest and host is forgotten.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=170-201}} During this age, [[might makes right]], and bad men use lies to be thought good.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=170-201}} At the height of this age, humans no longer feel shame or indignation at wrongdoing.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=170-201}} Zeus will end this age when babies will be born with gray hair,<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=170-201}} and the gods will have completely forsaken humanity: "there will be no help against evil."<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=170-201}}

Hesiod finds himself in the Iron Age.<ref name=":0" />{{Reference page|pages=170-201}}

==Ovid's Four Ages==
The [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] poet [[Ovid]] (1st century BC&nbsp;– 1st century AD) tells a similar myth of Four Ages in Book 1.89–150 of the ''[[Metamorphoses]]''. His account is similar to Hesiod's, with the exception that he omits the Heroic Age. 

* Ovid emphasizes that innocence and justice defined the '''Golden Age'''.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Ovid |title=Metamorphoses |volume=1}}</ref>{{Reference page|pages=89-124}} Men did not suffer.<ref name=":2" />{{Reference page|pages=89-124}} He adds that in this age, men did not yet know the art of [[navigation]] and therefore did not explore the larger world.<ref name=":2" />{{Reference page|pages=89-124}} Further, no man had knowledge of [[agriculture]], but collected food that fell from the trees.<ref name=":2" />{{Reference page|pages=89-124}}
* In the '''Silver Age''', after [[Saturn (mythology)|Saturn]] was driven into [[Tartarus]], [[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]] introduced the seasons, and men consequently learn the art of agriculture and inhabited houses.<ref name=":2" />{{Reference page|pages=125–156}} 
* In the '''Bronze Age''' or the '''Age of Brass''', Ovid writes, men were prone to warfare, but not impiety.<ref name=":2" />{{Reference page|pages=125–156}}
* Finally, in the '''Iron Age''', men demarcate nations with boundaries; they learn the arts of navigation and mining; they are warlike, greedy, and impious. Truth, modesty, and loyalty are nowhere to be found.<ref name=":2" />{{Reference page|pages=125–156}}In this period [[Astraea]], goddess of justice leaves Earth bathed in slaughter.<ref name=":2" />{{Reference page|pages=125–156}}
Ovid considers the Iron Age to be in the past, so he does not equate his time with the Iron Age.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |title=The Ages of the World - Greek Mythology Link |url=https://www.maicar.com/GML/AgesOfWorld.html |access-date=2025-09-02 |website=www.maicar.com}}</ref>

== Commentary by other authors ==
[[Plato]] in ''[[Cratylus (dialogue)|Cratylus]]'' recounts the golden race of men who came first. In the dialog, [[Socrates]] clarifies to [[Hermogenes (philosopher)|Hermogenes]] that Hesiod did not mean men literally made of gold, but good and noble.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Plato |title=Cratylus}}</ref>{{Reference page|page=|pages=397e–398a}} Socrates describes these men as spirits or [[Daemon (mythology)|daemons]] upon the Earth. Since δαίμονες (''daimones'') is derived from δαήμονες (''daēmones'', meaning knowing or wise), they are beneficent, preventing ills, and guardians of mortals.<ref name=":1" />{{Reference page|page=398b|pages=}} 

According to [[Bibliotheca (Apollodorus)|''Bibliotheca'']], attributed to [[Apollodorus of Athens|Apollodorus]] (circa 2nd century BCE), the Bronze Age came to an end with the [[Ancient Greek flood myths|flood]] of [[Deucalion]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Great Flood: Apollodorus - Livius |url=https://www.livius.org/articles/misc/great-flood/flood4_t-apollodorus/ |access-date=2025-09-02 |website=www.livius.org}}</ref> In constrast, in ''Eligies'' (circa 1st century BCE), [[Propertius]] equates the same flood with the end of the Golden Age.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Fratantuono |first=Lee |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4jMlEQAAQBAJ&dq=%22Propertius%22+Deucalion+golden+age&pg=PA210 |title=A Reading of Propertius' Elegies |date=2025-01-30 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-6669-7242-9 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":3" />

These mythological ages are sometimes associated with historical timelines. In the chronology of [[Saint Jerome]], the Golden Age lasts c. 1710 to 1674 BC, the Silver Age 1674 to 1628 BC, the Bronze Age 1628 to 1472 BC, the Heroic Age 1460 to 1103 BC, while Hesiod's Iron Age was considered as still ongoing by [[Saint Jerome]] in the fourth century AD.<ref>{{cite web |author=St. Jerome |title=St. Jerome, Chronicle (2004-5). Preface of Jerome; Preface of Eusebius |url=http://www.tertullian.org/fathers/jerome_chronicle_01_prefaces.htm |access-date=2012-11-16 |publisher=Tertullian.org}}</ref>

==Related usage==
Modern historical [[periodisation]] such as the [[three-age system]] has reappropriated the terms [[Bronze Age]] and [[Iron Age]] to describe archaeological periods following the [[Stone Age]] based on predominant metallurgical practices. Congruently, the term [[Golden Age]] is used to describe a civilization during a historical highpoint, for example the [[Golden Age of India]], [[Islamic Golden Age]] and the [[Han dynasty|Han]] and [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] dynasties of [[History of China|China]].

==See also==

Similar concepts include:

* Christian: [[Six Ages of the World]], [[dispensationalism]]
* Hindu: [[Yuga Cycle]] ([[Satya Yuga|Satya]], [[Treta Yuga|Treta]], [[Dvapara Yuga|Dvapara]] and [[Kali Yuga]])
* Buddhist: [[Three Ages of Buddhism|Three Ages]]
* Jain: {{lang|sa-Latn|Utsarpiṇī}} and {{lang|sa-Latn|[[Avasarpiṇī]]}}
* Aztec: [[Five Suns]]
* Maya: [[Mesoamerican creation myths]] (generations of man)
*[[Giambattista Vico]]'s ricorso: the return of the society to a relatively more primitive condition
*[[History of Arda#Ages of the Children of Ilúvatar|J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional "Four Ages"]]
*[[Oswald Spengler]]'s [[The Decline of the West#Spenglerian terms|civilizational model]]
* [[Modern archaeology]]: [[Three-age system]] (Stone, Bronze and Iron), with each of the stages further divided into substages (e.g. the Stone Age comprises the [[Paleolithic]], [[Mesolithic]] and [[Neolithic]]).
* {{lang|de|[[Lebenstreppe]]}}: an artistic tradition that depicts the ages as a series of ascending and descending steps

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*[http://www.maicar.com/GML/AgesOfMan.html The Ages of Man] at Greek Mythology Link
*[http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/a/hesiodagesofman.htm "Five Ages of Man in Greek Mythology According to Hesiod"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110623122212/http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/a/hesiodagesofman.htm |date=2011-06-23 }} by N.S. Gill
*[http://www.colecciondeverda.com/search/label/Metamorfosis%20seg%C3%BAn%20Goltzius%20%28serie%20I%29 Hendrick Goltzius engravings of the Ages of Man from the De Verda collection"]
*[http://www.greekmythology.com/Myths/The_Myths/Ages_of_Man/ages_of_man.html Ages of Man] at GreekMythology.com

{{Timelines of religion}}
{{Greek religion}}{{Historiography}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ages Of Man}}
[[Category:Greek myths]]
[[Category:Roman mythology]]
[[Category:Historiography]]
[[Category:Historical eras]]