The Myth of the Golden Age in the Renaissance

"Mr. Levin defines the myth of the golden age as a nostalgic statement of man's orientation in time, an attempt at transcending the limits of history. Usually concentrating on a pre-historic epoch, an imaginary foreworld once perfected and now lost, he myth holds up an anarchic vision of justice among men, peace among peoples, and love between the sexes, and is a product of a reaction against the decadence of the present epoch, whenever that may be. When the focus shifts from the past to the future, the standpoint shifts to the idea of progress. In both cases especially the latter, where specific plans can be envisaged-it posits an ideal relation between man and man. In this beautifully written book Mr. Levin argues that, because the myth emphasizes free will, an ethic of hedonism, and a cult of beauty, it was an especially pertinent myth in the Renaissance. He finds that while painters attempted to portray the myth, it remained essentially a literary subject, and there are few men of letters in whose works there is not some sort of an allusion to it. The humanistic revival of learning together with the unprecedented efflorescence of the arts acted out the fancy that the golden age had returned. The topics Mr.Levin treats- prehistory, ethics, geography, fiction, pageantry, and historiography allow unusual scope for the interplay of critical and historical interpretation."-Publisher