Seminar: "The Return of the Golden Age" - Day 3

We are primarily interested in the question how, throughout history, the classical concept of the ‘Golden Age’ has been used to frame subsequent periods of time, either as a Golden Age returned or – in contrast – as a period in need of its return. In terms of reception, the Golden age rhetoric could be used to appropriate specific periods in Antiquity (or Antiquity in general), and/or, more generally, it may take its cue from the ancient idea that Golden Ages can and do regularly return.

Although the idea and rhetoric of the (return of the) Golden Age is widespread and numerous case studies have been devoted to this topic, there are no comparative, diachronic studies that analyze the common threads and malleability of this rhetoric, neither do they distinguish between the several types of reception that form its foundation. By means of studying a wide range of such receptions of the classical ‘Golden Age’ in different periods, we aim to get a clearer view on the characteristics of Golden Age receptions in different periods, starting from Antiquity itself.