Golden Age
The mythical era of peace and plenty under Cronus's rule, before Zeus and the Olympians brought the current order of toil and mortality.
The Myth of Golden Age
The Golden Age was the first and finest period of human existence according to Greek mythology. Hesiod described it in his Works and Days as a time when Cronus ruled heaven and earth, and the first race of mortals lived like gods themselves. There was no agriculture because the earth gave up its fruit freely. There was no war because no one wanted what another had. People did not age in the way we understand — they grew old gently and died as if falling asleep, without pain or fear. The seasons were mild, always spring-like, and the concept of labour simply did not exist. These first humans were made of gold, not literally but in the sense that they were the finest version of humanity the world would ever produce. When they died, they became benevolent spirits who wandered the earth, watching over later mortals and dispensing quiet justice. The Golden Age ended when Cronus was overthrown by Zeus in the Titanomachy. What followed — the Silver Age, Bronze Age, Heroic Age, and finally the Iron Age of Hesiod's own time — represented a steady decline. Each generation was worse than the last, further from that original perfection. The Romans adopted this myth enthusiastically, and poets like Virgil and Ovid returned to it constantly. It became one of Western civilisation's most enduring ideas: that somewhere in the distant past, life was better, simpler, and fairer than it would ever be again.
Parents
Era of Cronus
Symbols
Words We Inherited
English words and phrases that trace back to this myth. See our full guide to English words from Greek mythology.
Explore Further
Kronos
🏔 titanTitan, father of the Olympians
King of the Titans who ruled during the mythological Golden Age. Kronos overthrew his father Ouranos and was in turn overthrown by his son Zeus.
Cronus
🏔 titanharvest, time, ruler of the Titans
Ruler of the Titans and father of the first Olympians, who swallowed his children to prevent being overthrown.
Astraea
🏔 titanStar-maiden of justice
The virgin goddess of justice who lived among humans during the Golden Age and was the last immortal to leave Earth.
Eurynome
🏔 titanPre-Olympian queen of the cosmos
In the Pelasgian creation myth, Eurynome ruled the universe with Ophion before the rise of the Titans.
Tethys
🏔 titanTitaness of the primal ocean
The great Titaness of the sea who nursed Hera and whose union with Oceanus produced all the world's rivers and springs.
Opis
🏔 titanHarvest, Abundance
A Titaness of plenty associated with the earth's bounty, later merged with the Roman goddess Ops who presided over agricultural wealth.
Atlas
🏔 titanTitan condemned to hold up the sky
The Titan who was condemned to hold the celestial sphere on his shoulders for eternity. His name became synonymous with endurance and with books of maps.
Prometheus
🏔 titanTitan of forethought, champion of mankind
The Titan who stole fire from the gods and gave it to humanity, earning eternal punishment. Prometheus is one of mythology's greatest rebels and benefactors.
Mount Othrys
🏔 titanTitan Power, Cosmic War
The real mountain in central Greece that mythology designated as the Titans' fortress during their ten-year war against the Olympians on Mount Olympus.
Clymene
🏔 titanFame, Renown
An Oceanid-Titaness best known as the mother of Prometheus, Atlas, and the other sons of Iapetus who shaped humanity's early story.
Rhea
🏔 titanTitaness of fertility, motherhood, the mountain wilds
Mother of the Olympian gods and wife of Kronos. Rhea saved the infant Zeus from being devoured by his father, enabling the rise of the Olympians.
Eurynome
🏔 titanPastures, Wide Rule
A Titaness who in some traditions ruled Olympus alongside her husband Ophion before being overthrown by Cronus and Rhea in a divine coup.