Age of Iron

E468402

Age of Iron is the final era in Greek mythology’s sequence of human ages, marked by moral decline, hardship, and the loss of the heroic virtues of earlier times.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Age of Iron canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (45)

Predicate Object
instanceOf Greek mythological age
mythological era
appearsInWork Works and Days NERFINISHED
associatedWith decline from divine proximity
loss of ease and abundance
rise of deceit and injustice among humans
characterizedBy decline of justice
hardship
impiety toward the gods
injustice
loss of heroic virtues
moral decline
social strife
suffering
toil
violence
contrastedWith Age of Heroes
Bronze Age
Golden Age
Silver Age
cosmicOrder part of a cyclical or sequential view of history in Greek thought
culture Ancient Greek mythology
describedBy Hesiod NERFINISHED
eschatology foretold eventual destruction by Zeus in Hesiod’s account
follows Age of Bronze NERFINISHED
Age of Heroes NERFINISHED
Heroic Age NERFINISHED
GreekName σιδήρεον γένος (for Iron Age)
χρύσεον γένος (for Golden Age, as contrast)
influenced Roman interpretations of ages of man
later Greco-Roman concepts of historical decline
languageOfOrigin Ancient Greek
literaryGenre didactic poetry
moralQuality worst of the ages of man
partOf Ages of Man NERFINISHED
precedes no further age in Hesiod’s scheme
relatedConcept Bronze Age NERFINISHED
Golden Age
Heroic Age
Silver Age NERFINISHED
sequencePosition fifth age in Hesiod’s Ages of Man
sourceType mythological and poetic tradition
theme degeneration of human morality over time
increasing distance between gods and humans
timeOf present human condition in Hesiod’s view

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Heroic Age precedes Age of Iron