Metamorphoses · Chapter
Silver Age explained
The Silver Age begins after Saturn's banishment and Jove's ascension.
What happens
The Silver Age begins after Saturn's banishment and Jove's ascension. The earth degenerates, seasons become distinct, and mortals must labor and seek shelter from harsh weather, marking a decline from the Golden Age.
Themes in this chapter
Mortality and Immortality
The Silver Age introduces human hardship, labor, and seasonal extremes, contrasting with the eternal ease of the Golden Age.
Characters to notice
- Jove
Jove assumes dominion after Saturn's banishment, presiding over the Silver Age.
Key passages
“The earth, no longer under the dominion of Saturn, begins to exhibit marks of degeneracy.”
With Saturn gone, the world starts to show signs of decline.
This line marks the transition from the Golden to the Silver Age.
“Then summer, autumn, winter, did appear; And spring was but a season of the year;”
The distinct seasons of summer, autumn, winter, and spring now exist.
The Silver Age introduces seasonal change and climatic extremes.
“Then ploughs, for seed, the fruitful furrows broke, And oxen labour'd first beneath the yoke.”
Humans began plowing fields and yoking oxen for agriculture.
This describes the onset of farming and labor in the Silver Age.