# Questions about Hesiod's epic poem, the 'Theogony' and Golden Race of Man

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-hesiods-epic-poem-the-theogony-and-golden-race-of-man/943447>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** books-writing-myths\
**Created:** [June 2, 2021, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-hesiods-epic-poem-the-theogony-and-golden-race-of-man/943447 "2021-06-02T08:08:44Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2021, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-hesiods-epic-poem-the-theogony-and-golden-race-of-man/943447/1 "2021-06-02T08:08:44Z")

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Regarding Hesiod’s epic poem, the ‘Theogony’ (which I have not read) and specifically the Golden Race of Man, I was curious to know where, logistically speaking, the Golden Race actually lived. Was it on Olympus itself, on the lower reaches of Olympus. Was there anything like hierarchical zoning on Olympus, depending on the type of deity, the 12 Olympian gods living in the upper reaches of Olympus and lower-ranking deities further down?. Did the Golden Race mingle withy the gods. I often come across reference to them ‘living like gods’ but no further details . I am not restricting my question to Hesiod’s Theogony. I’m open to other versions of the lives of the Golden Race.

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**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2021, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-hesiods-epic-poem-the-theogony-and-golden-race-of-man/943447/2 "2021-06-02T13:51:42Z")

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The reference is in Hesiod’s _Works and Days_, not the _Theogony_.

[Read it yourself](https://www.theoi.com/Text/HesiodWorksDays.html#Ages), it’s only a paragraph or two.

The only other ancient reference [is in Ovid](https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0028%3Abook%3D1%3Acard%3D89), also short.

I’ve never heard of ‘hierarchical zoning’ on Olympus. 🙂

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**Author:** ![Octagon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/2acd7d/32.png) [@Octagon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octagon)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2021, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/questions-about-hesiods-epic-poem-the-theogony-and-golden-race-of-man/943447/3 "2021-06-02T14:28:19Z")

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Thanks GreenWyvern for the clarification. I thought Hesiod’s work would be longer. I thought there may have been some description of the layout of Olympus and a hierarchical living arrangement.