Iron Age, The

The, in Greek mythology, one of the periods of time into which the history of the world was divided. The Iron Age followed the Brazen Age and was the last of the four, or, according to some accounts, the five great ages. In the Iron Age the whole world was given over to crime and misery. Jupiter decided to destroy mankind and start over again with a new and different race. He thought first of burning the world, but, fearing to set heaven also on fire, he decided to send a flood to drown the human family. This he proceeded to do, but Deucalion, a just man, and his good wife, Pyrrha, escaped the waters, and through them the earth was peopled. In archaeology the term iron age is used to designate the period in which iron began to be used for the making of implements and weapons. See Deucalion; Archaeology; Hesiod