Ages of Man facts for kids

The Iron Age

Ages of Man is an Ancient Greek myth that divides the history of the world into five eras. In the first eras, humans lived close to gods and were happy. In the latest eras, the gods have left the world and humans live in pain and unhappiness. This myth was first written down by Greek poet Hesiod, about 2700 years ago.

1. In the Golden Age, humans lived together with gods in peace. Plato said that there were also demons in this age, who were good and helped people. All of them were ruled by Kronos.
2. In the Silver Age, humans lived for one hundred years as children and fought each other when they became adults. They refused to worship Kronos' son Zeus, so he killed them all.
3. In the Bronze Age, humans fought each other all the time. They have all been killed in their own wars.
4. In the Heroic Age, demigods and heroes lived among humans. Perseus, Heracles, and Argonauts lived in this age. It ended after the Trojan War.
5. In the Iron Age, gods and other supernatural beings abandoned humans. As a result, humans have forgotten their virtues and lived in misery. It was the age when Hesiod himself lived.

These mythological ages are sometimes associated with historical timelines, 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.

Related pages

• Five Suns
• Yuga

See also

In Spanish: Edades del hombre para niños