What is the Golden Age? “Golden Age” - the meaning of phraseological units in history Golden Age in the history of mankind.

Chaldean Sibyl Sambeta thus predicted the onset of the Golden Age: “After catastrophes and wars, a new age will soon bloom again, the First and best, the golden time. Divine age, since all affairs will be carefully directed by God. The earth will once again bestow an abundance of fruits that will grow on their own. People will stop getting sick and will no longer grow old. They will be happy even when they go to the kingdom of Hades of their own free will.”

Libyan Sibyl:“A worldwide war will break out at the end of time. But this war, bringing famine, epidemics and loss of life, will be replaced by an era of peace, spirituality, freedom, justice and fertility. The beginning of this Golden Age. The Almighty will mark with a great heavenly sign.”

Sibyl of Eritrea.

People at that time will begin all over the endless world

To bring death to each other, and to this terrible turmoil

God will send them more plague, perun and famine,

Thus, punishing wicked people for unjust judgment.

The number of people in the world will then be reduced so much

What if someone sees only a human footprint,

That will be a lot of surprise. But God, who lives in the ether,

He will again become a savior to all just men.

And reliable peace and harmony will reign on earth,

The soil will give birth again and will bear abundant fruit,

For they will stop dividing and torturing her like a slave.

Every pier and port will open to people freely,

As it was before, shamelessness will completely disappear.

Later in heaven the Lord will show a great sign:

People will see the constellation - it will be like a wreath,

With its bright radiance it will illuminate the heavens for a long time

It will remain this way. And people will understand that a competition is coming,

And the Immortal calls them to fight for this wreath.

For then the great time of triumph will come

In the city of heaven: here the whole vast world will converge,

Everyone can become a participant in the incorruptible glory.

All peoples are then in immortal strivings for victory,

There is nothing more beautiful, they will rush; and the sinner cannot

There, it is shameless to buy a victory wreath for money.

And the blessed Savior will fairly distribute the rewards.

He will crown the faithful, and those who have suffered torment,

Having ended the struggle with death, the reward will be immortal.

For those who preserve their virginity and strive for imperishable victory,

He will reward according to their deserts, and to those who took care of justice,

And He will not forget anyone, even from distant nations,

If they lived righteously and knew the one God.

Those who revered marriage, rejecting shameful fornication,

The rich will receive the gift; their hope will never die.

For every human soul is a gift from God.

Song 2, 21 -54.

He will again be a savior to all just men – once again the Almighty will take pity on people and the eleventh generation of righteous people will live during the Golden Age.

People before the Lord God, great and eternal, tribes

The whites here will bow down, descending on the nursing earth.

The creations of human hands will collapse and perish in the fire;

But they will receive great joy from God in return

Mortals, for the earth, trees and pastures will

To bear true fruit, and then plenty will appear

Sweet honey, wine, snow-white milk, bread -

The main thing is bread, because it is the highest good for mortals.

Just don’t you dare hesitate, you evil-willed and vain mortal,

But turn repentantly, pray for forgiveness from God!

Sacrifice to Him kids and firstborn lambs,

Bring hundreds of bulls as the years change.

Beg the Lord to descend and show His mercy,

For He is one God, and there cannot be another.

Always honor justice, do not offend anyone -

But beware of awakening God's supreme wrath

Song 3, 616-632.

Sacrifice to Him kids and first-born lambs, offer hundreds of bulls as the years change - difficult to interpret lines, since we are clearly talking about pagan rituals.

The judgment of the Immortal God on that day will come to mortals.

The power of the Lord in that day is upon good people will appeal.

The best fruit is the earth, which gives birth to everything,

He will give mortals an abundance of wheat, wine and olives.

Heaven will send plenty of sweet honey to man,

There will be plenty of tree fruits and fat cattle:

Goats, and cows, and sheep with small lambs together.

Streams of snow-white milk will burst out of the ground.

The cities will be full of wealth, and the fields will be fruitful;

The noise of battle and the terrible massacre will completely disappear,

With a heavy groan the earth will no longer shake,

Wars and drought will no longer be a threat to the world,

With them, famine and hail that destroys the harvest will be abolished.

A great peace, unknown before, will descend on earth,

Now the kings will become friends until the end of time,

People all over the earth will live by the same law,

What will the Lord, who rules in the starry heavens, establish?

With this law the Immortal will measure human affairs,

For He is one God, and there cannot be another,

And He will burn the wicked human race with fire.

So hurry up, people, to internalize my words with your hearts:

Leave vile idols and serve the living God;

Beware of fornication and a man's dirty bed,

If children are born, raise them, don’t kill them -

All these sins entail God's wrath.

God will finally send down an eternal kingdom to all people:

Having given the sacred law to those who revered Him as they should,

He promised that He would open the world and the earth for them

And the gates of bliss will open for them - great joy,

Eternally sound mind and bright thoughts will become

Their property. Then to the dwelling of the great God

Gifts will be brought from all over the world and incense will be burned.

People will no longer ask for directions to another house,

Those people call him the son of the great God.

All the paths are across the plains and all the cliffs are steep,

Mountain heights and waves that wildly rage on the sea -

Everything will become easily accessible to people these days.

For good people will have peace and quiet,

The prophets of the great God will abolish the sword, and they themselves

They will judge mortals and reign fairly.

Then all human wealth will become righteous.

This will be the judgment and power of the Most High God.

Rejoice and rejoice, O virgin! Eternal joy

He gave it to you, Who created heaven and earth.

Having settled in you, He will become your immortal light.

Sheep and wolves eat grass in the mountains

They will, and wild leopards will graze with the kids together.

Can a calf with a bear be safe in a pen,

A carnivorous lion, like an ox, will be satisfied with chaff in a manger;

His little children, tying him up, will lead him along,

Believe this one will become tame by the will of the great God.

The snake and the baby will sleep peacefully in the same bed

And he will not do evil - the Lord’s hand will not allow it.

Canto 3, 742-795.

God will finally send down an eternal kingdom to all people – according to the predictions of other prophets, the Golden Age will not last long, but people will live forever.

Mortal people will not forget to honor the lands of their birth -

Korshunov, also dogs, which Egypt gave to the world,

It is vain to extol, torturing stupid lips.

The homeland of the pious, the holy land will bring them

Streams of honey flow from rocks and springs.

Then unearthly milk will flow to the pure in soul -

To those who have placed their hopes in the Creator alone,

the Most High God, bringing Him reverence and faith.

Canto 5, 278-285.

That imperishable path that the Great God paved,

Where three springs flow - honey, wine and milky.

The earth will become common; no longer being divided

Walls and boundaries, she herself will give abundant fruit;

Everyone will live together, having no need for wealth.

Neither a slave, nor a tyrant, neither small nor great;

There are no kings or leaders - all people are equal to each other.

No one will say anymore: “night has come”, or “tomorrow”,

Or “yesterday it was,” and days full of worries,

Nor will it; the four seasons will disappear,

Death and Marriage; buying and selling things;

Even the West and the East - everything will turn into a long day,

Those who lived a righteous life will turn to Him with prayer,

So that He saves sinners from fire and from continuous torment, -

The Lord will hear your requests, and all this will happen like this:

He will take everyone out of the never-ending fire unharmed.

And through His people He will send their lands to others,

And for another life, incorruptible in the fields of the Champs Elysees,

Where the stream of Acheron spread its waters widely,

Becoming the deepest lake that will remain forever.

Woe to me, woe to me, unfortunate one! On that day, what will happen to me?!

After all, I recklessly sought to surpass all people in sin.

Forgetting about both your spouse and your common sense.

But in the palace I lived my rich husband,

She did not allow the poor there; and knowing that I am doing evil,

She went to lawlessness. Savior, me from torment,

Deliver me from the impudent dog, and forgive me all my shamelessness.

I also pray to You: give this song a little peace,

347 Manna Good Giver, Lord of the Great Kingdom!

Song 2, 317-347.

Champs Elysees(Ellysium) - in Greek mythology, the abode of the blessed, the afterlife for the righteous.

Prophecies of John of Jerusalemabout happy times and the Golden Age:

31. When the millennium that followed the present one comes to an end,
people will finally open their eyes, break out of the captivity of their heads and cities, will be able to see from one end of the earth to the other and understand each other. They will understand: if you hit one, you will hurt another. People will become a single body, each of them a tiny part of it. Together they will be the heart. And a dialect will arise, understandable to everyone, something will be born - a Great Man.

32. When the millennium that follows the current one comes to an end, man will overcome the sky, he will create stars in the large and dark sea, he will set off on his journey in a shiny ship, like the new Odysseus, friend of the sun, on an odyssey
your heavenly one. And he will become the master of the water, build cities in the depths of the sea, feeding on the fruits of the sea. He will live in all the great places
state, and everything will be allowed to him.

33. When the millennium that followed the current one comes to an end, people will learn to swim under the waves, their bodies will be renewed, and they will become fish. Others will fly higher than the birds when they manage not to fall like a stone to the ground. They will communicate with each other, their spirit will open to everyone, and he will be able to receive the messages of others. And they will share dreams with each other, and will live as long as the oldest of people - like the one about whom the Holy Scriptures.

34. When the millennium that followed the current one comes to an end, man will know the spirit of all things: he will know stone, water and the living essence, in the eyes of another person; will penetrate into the secrets kept by the ancient gods, and he will begin to open door after door in that labyrinth of a new life. He will become a creator, powerful and indomitable, like a source. He will bestow knowledge on all people, and his children will know both the earth and the sky better than anyone before them, and his body will find perfection, and his spirit will embrace everything and take possession of them.

35. When the millennium that followed the current one comes to an end, man will lose his undivided kingdom. Next to him, the woman will raise the scepter and become the mistress of future times. Having conceived something, she will encourage men to create and become the mother of that millennium that came after the current one. And it will flow with the tender sweetness of a mother after the days when the devil was in charge, and it will become beautiful in the days that came after the barbaric days. The millennium that comes after the current one will suddenly become easy. And people will love again, and be fruitful, and will dream again. And their dreams will come true.

36. When the millennium that followed the current one comes to an end, man will be given a second birth: the spirit will take possession of the entire herd of people, and each one will become a brother to everyone - then the period of barbarism will expire. This will be a time of new life and faith, after the dark days at the beginning of the millennium that followed the current one. Happy days will begin. A person will again take a path worthy of him. The earth will experience order again.

37. When the millennium that followed the current one comes to an end, there will be paths from the ends of the earth and sky to others, the forests will overgrow and become forests, the deserts will be watered with water that has regained purity. The earth will become a garden, man will honor everything that is alive, he will begin to clean up everything that he himself has spoiled, he will consider the Earth to be his homeland, and he will think wisely about the coming day.

38. When the millennium that followed the current one comes to an end, everyone will live with others in unison, will know everything about the world and the body, treat diseases before they appear, and everyone will become a healer for themselves and everyone else. He will understand that he needs to help in order for everyone to go together, and after a time of isolation and stinginess, he will open both his heart and his pocket for the poor. He will recognize himself as the keeper of all order for people, and then another time will come.

39. When the millennium that followed the current one comes to an end, man will comprehend the science of giving and dividing, the bitter days of loneliness will be forgotten, and he will again believe in the Spirit, and the former barbarity will be despised by everyone. But this understanding after wars and fires will come from the burnt skeletons of the Towers of Babel. And an iron fist will be needed, but so that order can be established in chaos. And then a person will find the only right path.

40. When the millennium that followed the current one comes to an end, man will know that existence is the bearer of Light and every creature awaits its respect.
Man will build cities in heaven, on earth and in the sea. His memory will preserve what once happened to him, and he will know what will happen to him next. He will not be afraid of his own death - his life will be several lives, and he will know that the light will never go out.

Gospel of John(Gospel of Peace): “And then the sons of Men, like true brothers, will give each other the love that they have received from their Heavenly Father and Earthly Mother, and they will all become comforters to each other. And then all evil and all grief will disappear from the Earth, and then there will be love and joy on earth. And then the Earth will be like the heavens and the Kingdom of God will come.”

Clairvoyant Regina(XII century) about the future of humanity: “A strange generation of people is now found on this Earth. He has no desire for spiritual elevation; He was overcome only by a strange desire to exterminate the entire human race. And one day, someday in the future, people will say: “Once upon a time there lived a people - the British, the Franks or the Germans - who eternally observed the ancient law, which brought them to the grave.” These people are digging a grave for their own souls. Britons, Franks, Germans or other peoples - wherever they live, they are all united by an ancient law, which, in the end, will lead to the fact that they will all wither and fade away. And when the sun rises again in golden glory over the graves, in time a new generation of people will be born and a new humanity will appear.”

Saint Birgitta(Sweden, XIV century): “The time will come when the pagans will be so devout that Christians will be their humble servants, and the Holy Scriptures will be fulfilled - there will be one flock and one Shepherd, one faith and one clear knowledge of God. Many who are called will be unfit, and the desert will bloom, and the pagans will sing: Glory to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit!

Mühlhiazl , Forest Prophet from Bavaria. (1750-1825). “To prevent disaster, people should be wary of displaying vanity and arrogance, because both will lead to misfortune…. After the collapse of the world, a wonderful time will come. Preachers and miracle-working saints will return. And people will turn to faith again.”

According to predictions Paracelsus, The Golden Age on Earth will be short-lived and will last only 50 years. Philip Theofast Bombast von Hohenheim(1493-1541) - physician, naturalist, alchemist and astrologer, better known as Paracelsus. He wrote the book “Oracles”, where he describes the events of the future until the end of the 22nd century. Prophecies of Paracelsus about the Golden Age: “For a period equal to 50 years of the Second Kingdom of Saturn, which will come 500 years after the death of Paracelsus, the Golden Age will come again, but it will last only 50 years.”

Second kingdom of Saturn – according to the theory of chronocrats, set forth in the work Liber Rationum (XII century) by the Jewish scientist Abraham Avanezra, periods of world history are divided into cycles with a period of 354 years and 4 months. They are arranged in reverse order of the days of the week: Saturn, Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Moon, Sun. Medieval astrologers took 5200 BC as the starting point of the cycles, that is, the year of the creation of the world according to Eusebius of Caesarea. You and I live in the era of the Sun. Next loop(" second kingdom of Saturn") will begin in 2242. It is unknown which reporting point Paracelsus used, but according to his predictions, the Saturn cycle will begin in 2041 and last until 2395 (2041 + 354 = 2395). During this period of time there will be a short-lived Golden Age.

It was first found in the ancient Greek Poet Hesiod (8th–7th centuries BC) in the poem “Deeds and Days.” As Hesiod writes, there was once a time when people lived without worries, without wars, without suffering. And he calls this time the “golden age”: Once upon a time... ... Dictionary of popular words and expressions

A mythological concept that existed in the ancient world of a happy and carefree state primitive humanity. This idea is most clearly expressed in the poem “Works and Days” by Hesiod and in “Metamorphoses” by Ovid. According to Hesiod (Hes... ... Encyclopedia of Mythology

Rise, peak, prosperity, best time, heyday, peak, age of astrea Dictionary of Russian synonyms. Golden Age Age of Astrea (outdated book) Dictionary of synonyms of the Russian language. Practical guide. M.: Russian language. Z. E. Alexandrova. 2011… Dictionary of synonyms

GOLDEN AGE Dictionary-reference book for Ancient Greece and Rome, according to mythology

GOLDEN AGE- The Golden Age, along with the Silver, Bronze and Iron, is one of the four periods of human development. This is exactly how the Greek poet Hesiod describes modern times in his poem “Works and Days”, in the form of a sequential alternation of these four eras... ... List of Ancient Greek names

Modern encyclopedia

In the ideas of many ancient peoples, the earliest time of human existence, when people remained forever young, did not know worries and sorrows, were like gods, but were subject to death, which came to them like a sweet dream (described in the Works and ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

Golden age- GOLDEN AGE, in the ideas of many ancient peoples, a happy early time of humanity, when people remained forever young, knew no worries, were like gods, but were subject to death, which came to them like a sweet dream. In a figurative sense, time... ... Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary

GOLDEN AGE- what [what, whose] The best, carefree period of life, a time of prosperity. This means that what l. time period (P) in the history of a people, country, social group (Y), in the development of civilization, science, culture, which one. activity (Q)… … Phrasebook Russian language

Golden age- according to the ideas of the ancients, the period when people led happy life without strife, wars and hard work. The legend arose in Hellas during the formation of class society, when the life of some community members worsened: they had to... ... Ancient world. Dictionary-reference book.

Books

Golden Age, Aksenov Vasily Ivanovich. The collection of short stories and novellas “The Golden Age” returns the reader to the world of distant Siberian Yalani, already familiar to him from the novels of Vasily Ivanovich Aksenov “Ten Visits to My Beloved”,…
The Golden Age, Aksenov V.. The collection of short stories and novellas “The Golden Age” returns the reader to the world of distant Siberian Yalani, already familiar to him from the novels of Vasily Ivanovich Aksenov “Ten Visits to My Beloved”,…

« Not injured by the plow, the land itself brought them everything...
It was spring forever; pleasant cool breath,
The ether tenderly caressed the flowers that had never been sown.
Moreover, the land brought crops without plowing;
Without resting, the fields were golden in heavy ears».
Ovid (43 BC-17 AD) "Metamorphoses"

It is difficult to find at least two people who will answer this question the same way. Some compare the “golden age” with the ancient era, others believe that it corresponded to the heyday of the mythical Atlantis, and others associate it with the life of the first people in paradise. The answer to the question whether there was a “golden age” throughout the entire earth or in some part of it is equally uncertain.
What is the reason for this? Why can't scientists who send spacecraft to other planets and take beautiful images of the moons of Jupiter, Saturn and Neptune, several billion kilometers away from Earth, penetrate into Earth's seemingly not-so-distant past? Why do scientists' opinions about this past vary so much?
I first expressed my point of view on this matter back in 1990. It is as follows: Atlantis, Pacifida, Lemuria, Mu, Arctida (Hyperborea), Avalon, Islands of the Immortals, “golden age” and other similar “esoteric” concepts cannot be the subject of the study of geology, archeology,history, ethnography and any other single discipline, because they belong to a category of knowledge that goes far beyond the boundaries of any of these sciences. Their effective research is possible only through the joint efforts of specialists from different professions.– astronomers and mathematicians, geologists and geophysicists, archaeologists and historians, ethnographers and linguists, and even better– universal specialists with basic knowledge in each of the above disciplines.
However, there are still very few such universal specialists. The modern education system is set up in such a way that many excellent geologists do not know the Old Testament, the Koran, the Mahabharata and other ancient texts well enough, and historians and ethnographers who study such literature and legends have very vague ideas about plate tectonics, oceanic and continental crust, paleofacies analysis and many other fundamental concepts of geology and geophysics. As a result, historians and ethnographers often refer in their publications to the ancient continents located on the site of the oceans (Pacifida, Lemuria, Atlantis, etc.) and the “golden age” of universal abundance. Geologists and geophysicists, as a rule, do not agree with this and explain that the oceans from time immemorial were underlain by oceanic-type crust. As for the “golden age”, during which the thermometer throughout the entire earth was at the twenty-five-degree mark, fruits and vegetables ripened all year round and the sun never set, then, according to the unanimous opinion of geologists, this could not have happened throughout the entire existence of people.
How so? After all, many ancient and medieval authors mentioned the “golden age” of humanity. The fact that he was once on Earth is eloquently evidenced by legends different nations. Are we all not ready to find a solution to this most interesting historical riddle that will satisfy various experts? Are we really not able to leave the realm of pseudo-scientific speculation and propose scientific hypotheses based strictly on factual material?
Looks like they're really not ready yet. But a person is designed in such a way that he sometimes wants to do what the people around him seem unable to do. The author is no exception. Fascinated by the magical attractive power of legends about the “Golden Age”, familiar with this issue first-hand - when studying sacred texts, legends and myths of different peoples and in preparing his other works - he threw all his knowledge as a geologist with more than 15 years of field research experience.
It is likely that the conclusions I have drawn will sound stunning to some. Other readers will perceive them as science or near-science fiction. But I hope that they will still read my work with interest and for that I will be grateful to them. There will almost certainly be some critical readers who will consider me just another falsifier of history or a charlatan. This means that they will not be able to figure out that I based my research on factual material, or, even worse, such readers will not be convinced by any facts.

Read work "

Golden age

according to the ideas of the ancients, a period when people led a happy life - without strife, wars and hard work. The legend arose in Hellas during the formation of class society, when the life of some community members worsened: they had to work for the nobility, experiencing humiliation. As Hesiod tells in the poem “Works and Days” (109 - 201), people “s.v.” created by the gods when Cronus (Kronos) ruled. They knew neither grief, nor worries, nor old age, spending their days at feasts. The land itself bore fruit, and numerous herds grazed on it.

Replaced the “z.v.” silver age endowed people with all sorts of benefits. However, Zeus exterminated people because they did not want to make sacrifices to the gods. Then, according to Hesiod, the Copper Age came: people created copper tools and weapons, they existed through wars and robberies, which destroyed themselves.

After them came a warlike, but fair and noble generation of heroes. They died during the campaign of the seven against Thebes and Trojan War. Hesiod calls his age an iron one: people are forced to constantly work, grief and worries do not leave them, and life itself has become short. Instead of laws, force rules on earth; shame has disappeared, and humanity is heading towards destruction - Zeus will destroy this generation too.

The legend of "Z.V." was also popular in Roman literature (see, for example, Ovid’s “Metamorphoses”).

Hesiod. Works and days // Hellenic poets in translations by V.V. Veresaeva. M., 1963; Ovid. Metamorphoses / Transl. S. Shervinsky. M., 1977; Trencheni-Waldapfel I. Homer and Hesiod / Trans. from Hungarian M., 1956; Burn A.R. The world of Hesiod. New York, 1966.

(I.A. Lisovy, K.A. Revyako. The ancient world in terms, names and titles: Dictionary-reference book on the history and culture of Ancient Greece and Rome / Scientific editor. A.I. Nemirovsky. - 3rd ed. - Mn: Belarus, 2001)

a mythological idea that existed in the ancient world - happy times when people led a carefree life, not overshadowed by strife, wars and hard forced labor. According to Hesiod, Z.v. reigned on earth when Kronos still ruled in heaven. The lands in those days were abundant, and people lived like gods, knowing neither grief, nor labor, nor old age. They spent their lives in feasts and contentment, and died as if falling asleep. After death, people of this generation turned into good spirits protecting order on earth. The Roman poet Ovid describes the Old Age as follows, apparently borrowing this myth from the Greeks: “The golden age was the first to be sown, which knew no retribution, It itself always observed, without laws, both truth and fidelity, There were no helmets, swords, military exercises Without knowing, Sweet people tasted peace and lived safely. Also, free from tribute, not touched by a sharp hoe, not wounded by a plow, the land itself brought them everything... It was spring forever; pleasant with its cool breath, the ether tenderly basks in the flowers that have never been sown. Moreover, the land brought crops without plowing; Without resting, the fields were golden in heavy ears, Rivers of milk flowed, rivers of nectar flowed, Golden honey dripped, oozing from the green oak...” For the West. followed in order of deterioration by the Silver, Copper and, finally, the Iron Age, the most difficult of all. Ideas about Z.v. existed in many mythologies - Scandinavian, Chinese, Egyptian, Babylonian, Aztec, etc. In Christian mythology, they were reflected in the form of the life of the ancestors of mankind in Eden.

(Mythological Dictionary / G.V. Shcheglov, V.Archer - M.: ACT: Astrel: Transitbook, 2006)

The Golden Age, along with the Silver, Bronze and Iron, is one of the four periods of human development. This is precisely how the Greek poet Hesiod in his poem “Works and Days” describes his contemporary views on the origins of man and the change of centuries, in the form of a sequential alternation of these four eras. However, Hesiod makes some addition - between the Copper and Iron Ages he places the age of heroic demigods. It was then, in his opinion, that the heroes of Homer and other characters lived ancient greek mythology. His own life, full of labor and hardship, fell on anxious, joyless times, called by Hesiod the Iron Age. Life in the golden age was peaceful and idyllic (see). God Kronos ruled justly and generously in heaven; people remained forever young and happy. Horace, Virgil in the Georgics and Ovid in the Metamorphoses turned their gaze to the golden age; all classical literature permeates a nostalgic attitude towards a happy past. Hopes for changes for the better were reflected in Virgil's sixth eclogue, inspired by the predictions of the prophetess Sibyl, according to which the world circle of life represents a change of periods, circles correlated with ten months and under the protection of certain deities. By the time the eclogue was written, the circle of Diana (the Iron Age) was ending and a new circle was beginning - that of Apollo, in which the return of the golden age was expected. We find the same theme in Shelley's poems:

A great age is returning to the world,

The golden years are coming...

Ancient world. Dictionary-reference book. EdwART. 2011.

Synonyms:

See what “Golden Age” is in other dictionaries:

Golden age- First found in the ancient Greek Poet Hesiod (VIII-VII centuries BC) in the poem “Deeds and Days.” As Hesiod writes, there was once a time when people lived without worries, without wars, without suffering. And he calls this time the “golden age”: Once upon a time... ... Dictionary of popular words and expressions

GOLDEN AGE- a mythological idea that existed in the ancient world about the happy and carefree state of primitive humanity. This idea is most clearly expressed in the poem “Works and Days” by Hesiod and in “Metamorphoses” by Ovid. According to Hesiod (Hes... ... Encyclopedia of Mythology

golden age- rise, peak, prosperity, best time, flourishing, peak, age of astrea Dictionary of Russian synonyms. Golden Age Age of Astrea (outdated book) Dictionary of synonyms of the Russian language. Practical guide. M.: Russian language. Z. E. Alexandrova. 2011… Dictionary of synonyms

GOLDEN AGE Dictionary-reference book on Ancient Greece and Rome, on mythology

GOLDEN AGE Modern encyclopedia

GOLDEN AGE- in the ideas of many ancient peoples, the earliest time of human existence, when people remained forever young, did not know worries and sorrows, were like gods, but were subject to death, which came to them like a sweet dream (described in Works and ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary

What does the expression "golden age" mean?

Answer

The Golden Age is a metaphor, because, firstly, it means a period of time that is not necessarily equal to a hundred years, and secondly, the noble metal here is only a poetic figure, showing the particularly high value, quality, and specialness of something ( like golden hands, golden youth, golden mean, golden ratio, golden wedding).

Since ancient times, in the cultures of many peoples there has been a myth about the existence in the distant past of a period when people lived in harmony with nature and with each other, there were no wars, no diseases, no hard work, the earth itself gave people everything they needed, there was no need in laws, punishments, because no crimes were committed and there was general prosperity. This immemorial blissful time was called the golden age.

The idea of a golden age can be culturally traced back to the poem “Works and Days” by the ancient Greek poet Hesiod (about 700 BC), although the term “golden age” itself did not yet exist. Hesiod speaks of the “golden race” or “golden generation” of humanity, after which came the silver race, then the bronze (or copper) and, finally, the iron race. Changes of generations correspond to a change of eras in order of deterioration. Hesiod interprets history as a regressive process.

The term "golden age" first appears in the second half of the first century BC. e. in the poem "Aeneid" by the ancient Roman poet Virgil.

In Christianity and other Abrahamic religions there is the same concept of a golden age - paradise lost, life before the Fall.

Apparently, the idea of a golden age is not purely mythological, but has some real foundations. According to historians, primitive society was classless, there was no state or private property, people were engaged in gathering and hunting, the needs of people were such that everything they needed could be obtained with minimal effort. It is not for nothing that the classics of social science called the economic structure of that society primitive communism. Only in the era of the Neolithic revolution, no later than 10 thousand years ago, a transition to a productive economy took place - agriculture and livestock farming, division of labor, and social inequality arose.

Hardly historical memory humanity could convey at least some memories about that distant time, which were supposedly supplemented later by utopian ideas of people about a happy ideal society and were artistically expressed in the concept of a “golden age.” Most likely, the emergence (and still existence) of the concept of the golden age is explained by the way of “thinking” of a large part of people - ascertaining-descriptive, sensory-intuitive, which is characterized by dogmatism, metaphysics, lack of evidence, lack of a dialectical approach, belief in the inviolability of a long time ago established order, the truth initially communicated to people in any holy book or the teachings of the prophets, conservatism (in contrast to the opposite type of thinking - rational, critical, doubting, independently and persistently seeking this truth, not believing in any authorities, holy books and secret esoteric knowledge). Instead of seeing history as a consistent improvement of society, i.e. progress, in the heads of such people there is an idea of the existence of an ideal in the past, and history for them is a regression - a consistent departure from perfection, a slide into the abyss. Among the philosophers professing this view, one can name J. J. Rousseau, who saw history as a process of evasion from the natural blissful and immaculate state. An opposite example is Henri Saint-Simon, who believed that the golden age was not in the past, but in the future.

The emergence of the idea of a golden age was apparently facilitated by the attitude of every person towards his childhood as the most carefree period of life. Humanity, in the minds of people with a sensory-emotional view of reality, is metaphorically likened to a person going through different periods of its development. The Golden Age is thus the childhood of humanity.

Each passing generation (some, although numerous of its representatives) scolds new times, saying that it was better before. This is explained by a psychologically subjective change in the perception of the world with age, when childhood carelessness, youthful hopes, and faith in a better future are replaced by illness, disappointment, and fear of approaching death. People with non-dialectical thinking tend to attach great importance to their feelings, to extend their inner experiences to the objective world, believing that it is the whole world that is getting worse, and not their psychological perception of it. In addition, such people are characterized by conservatism and rejection of everything new. Everything new seems bad to them only because it is different from the old.

It should be noted that religious faith is an ideal illustration of a dogmatic, metaphysical view of life: the world was immediately created ideal (God cannot create an imperfect world), then the Fall occurred, nothing good should be expected in the future, it will only get worse and the end of the world is inevitable, Armageddon (“Revelation of John the Theologian” or “Apocalypse”). The question of the need for an adequate understanding of reality in general and the harm of such views in particular, from which logically follows resignation to the existing state of affairs and the futility of any actions to change the life of mankind for the better, deserves special consideration.

Over time, the expression “golden age” acquired another meaning. The Golden Age began to be called generally any period of history during which the highest results were achieved in art, science, culture, and other types of human activity: the Golden Age of Russian poetry, the Golden Age Dutch painting etc.