History Main / TheTimeOfMyths

* The first edition of ''TabletopGame/{{Exalted}}'' ran with the idea that Creation was this to either the real world or the ''TabletopGame/WorldOfDarkness'', with Creation undergoing successive revolutions and collapses that eventually left it diminished and bound into the world we know. The idea was eventually formally abandoned, but influences remain.

%%* The Kingdom of Zeal in ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''.

* The age of {{The Gunslinger}}s in ''Franchise/TheDarkTower'' and of the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Great Old Ones]] before them. Basically same as the above.

* The opening lines in ''Joseph and His Brothers'' by Creator/ThomasMann go: "Very deep is the well of the past. Shall we not call it bottomless? ... The deeper we sound, the further down into the lower world of the past we probe and press, the more do we find that the earliest foundations of humanity, its history and culture, reveal themselves unfathomable." Mann postulates that figures in the ''Literature/BookOfGenesis'' existed much further back in time than supposed, and the generations in the narrative are "coulisses," stage sets that screen the depth of field behind them.

* ''Franchise/{{Nasuverse}}'' has this through the titular [[https://typemoon.fandom.com/wiki/World#Age_of_Gods Age of Gods]]:

* In ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight,'' older heroes and artifacts are more powerful than younger ones (compare, say Caliburn to Sigurd's Gram[[note]]As the concept of "sword of selection", Gram preceded Caliburn by a few centuries[[/note]], then Gram would win everytime), particularly things from the "Age of Gods" before the rise of Christianity came. Age of Gods were full of True Ether (the kind of "air" that Gods breathe, and was the main source of magic) as well as having more "Mystery" (i.e the more ShroudedInMyth someone is, the stronger he/she potentially is) than the current time. This is displayed best perhaps when Caster fought Rin using spells requiring a single word to cast, while the latter (a genius albeit inexperienced magus in her own right) was forced to use gems that had months or years worth of stored prana to counter them. Although Rin admitted she would have been able to counter a few spells for each gem if she were more confident, it doesn't change the fact that a few words from a Magus of the age of gods is worth years of prana storage from a modern one. Additionally, Caster can manifest spells in a single word that require modern magi to chant for a full minute (or half a minute in the case of experts) to replicate, and '''one''' of hers contain several times the '''total prana''' of the protagonist.
* In the broader ''Franchise/FateSeries'', gods used to roam the Earth as the dominant species. But (as told in ''Videogame/FateExtella''), in around 12000 BC, an extraterrestrial being called "Sefar" came to Earth, then killed some of those gods and caused major devastation until it's taken down by the wielder of "the holy sword that projects the light of the Earth" (highly implied to be Excalibur). It marks the first decline of the "Age of Gods". Other points where Age of Gods is said to decline is when [[Myth/MesopotamianMythology Gilgamesh rebelled against the gods]] and when [[Literature/TheBible King Solomon, the "King of Magic"]] died, with [[EndOfAnAge the age's end]] (and the start of "Age of Man") being the rise and spread of Christianity (0 AD).

-->-- '''Excerpt''' from "The Nemedian Chronicles," which opens the first ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' story, "Literature/ThePhoenixOnTheSword"

* Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'', which is (very, very) loosely based on the Greek myth of Herakles. To a lesser extent, Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'' as well.

* In a land of myth, and a time of magic, the destiny of a great kingdom rests on the shoulders of a young boy. His name...''{{Series/Merlin|2008}}.''

%%* ''Series/XenaWarriorPrincess''
%%* ''Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys''

* The most obvious video game example is '''named''' ''VideoGame/AgeOfMythology,'' featuring Egyptians, Greeks, and Vikings fighting each other, and later the suspiciously Roman Atlanteans.

In [[TheMiddleAges medieval Europe]], the preceding [[TheDarkAges dark ages]] were considered to be this, with historical rulers, dragons, dwarfs, sometimes gods figuring in countless heroic epics and romances. For the Ancient Greeks (starting from 800 BC to the Roman conquest in 146 BC) the Bronze Age Mycenaean Greek period from roughly 1750–1050 BC was seen as this as well, alongside the subsequent [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_Dark_Ages Greek Dark Ages]], and provided the basis for [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek Mythology]]. Asian fiction [[{{Wuxia}} subverts this trope]] [[JidaiGeki somewhat]], due to the prevalence of ancient records and artifacts. East Asian societies do have their own Time of Myths, such as the period of semi-divine emperors predating the dynastic period of China, but they were sufficiently well-discussed and codified before the advent of commercial fiction to never really crop up as a setting for genre fiction.

* Creator/AlexandreCabanel: Two-thirds of his {{paintings}} depict scenes from either Myth/ClassicMythology or UsefulNotes/{{Christian|ity}} religious canon. Gods and minor deities are represented as humanoids going about their business -- being born, falling from heaven, etc. The remaining third sometimes exalts their human subjects by including mythical figures to accompany them in some way (as mentors or creatures to slay).
** ''Art/{{The Birth of Venus|Cabanel}}'': After being born from the sea foam, LoveGoddessVenus is reclined on the sea and accompanied by {{Putt|o}}i.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

-->-- '''Excerpt''' from "The Nemedian Chronicles," which opens the first ''[[Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian Conan]]'' story, "The Phoenix on the Sword"

** In the same verse, the four films of ''Film/TheScorpionKing'', but also have a connection to [[SandalPunk Sandal Punk]].

If we see the end of the age, that's EndOfAnAge or TheMagicGoesAway. May overlap HereThereWereDragons, LostTechnology, and PointlessDoomsdayDevice. See also DeathOfTheOldGods, which is when a setting's ''past'' is described this way. If the mythical beings were mostly evil, then it is TheDarkTimes.

[[folder:Film]]

* Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'', which is (very, very) loosely based on the Greek myth of Herakles. To a lesser extent, Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Aladdin}}'' as well.

* The Age Of Legends in ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'', basically a {{Utopia}} fueled by {{Magitek}}. It [[AndManGrewProud didn't]] [[CataclysmBackstory end well]]. And the previous First Age is implied to be our own modern age.

* Most of ''Manga/{{Inuyasha}}''.
** Though a brief reference to UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga in one episode would put it sometime in the mid-1500s.
** From the beginning, it states that it's set during the Sengoku period.
** In ''Anime/InuYashaTheMovieFireOnTheMysticIsland'', on the other hand, you sees the Horai Island, which was actually created in a legendary time, and was a place [[InterspeciesRomance where humans and youkai lived peacefully]], and many [[HalfHumanHybrid hanyou children]] was born.

** Present in the Original Trilogy due to it being a thousand years before [[TheBadGuyWins the Lord Ruler rose to power]]. In the ash-covered world of Scadrial, things like [[LostCommonKnowledge stars, green plants,]] or the vast majority of the population NOT constantly being worked to death all seem like odd concepts to main character Vin.

In [[TheMiddleAges medieval Europe]], the preceding [[TheDarkAges dark ages]] were considered to be this, with historical rulers, dragons, dwarfs, sometimes gods figuring in countless heroic epics and romances. Asian fiction [[{{Wuxia}} subverts this trope]] [[JidaiGeki somewhat]], due to the prevalence of ancient records and artifacts. East Asian societies do have their own Time of Myths, such as the period of semi-divine emperors predating the dynastic period of China, but they were sufficiently well-discussed and codified before the advent of commercial fiction to never really crop up as a setting for genre fiction.

In [[TheMiddleAges medieval Europe]], the preceding [[TheDarkAges dark ages]] were considered to be this, with historical rulers, dragons, dwarfs, sometimes gods figuring in countless heroic epics and romances. Asian fiction [[{{Wuxia}} subverts this trope]] [[JidaiGeki somewhat]], due to the prevalence of ancient records and artefacts. East Asian societies do have their own Time of Myths, such as the period of semi-divine emperors predating the dynastic period of China, but they were sufficiently well-discussed and codified before the advent of commercial fiction to never really crop up as a setting for genre fiction.

In [[TheMiddleAges medieval Europe]], the preceding [[TheDarkAges dark ages]] were considered to be this, with historical rulers, dragons, dwarfs, sometimes gods figuring in countless heroic epics and romances. Asian fiction [[{{Wuxia}} subverts this trope]] [[HollywoodMedievalJapan somewhat]], due to the prevalence of ancient records and artefacts. East Asian societies do have their own Time of Myths, such as the period of semi-divine emperors predating the dynastic period of China, but they were sufficiently well-discussed and codified before the advent of commercial fiction to never really crop up as a setting for genre fiction.

* Most of ''Manga/InuYasha''.

* The opening lines in ''Joseph and His Brothers'' by Creator/ThomasMann go: "Very deep is the well of the past. Shall we not call it bottomless? ... The deeper we sound, the further down into the lower world of the past we probe and press, the more do we find that the earliest foundations of humanity, its history and culture, reveal themselves unfathomable." Mann postulates that figures in the Book of Genesis existed much further back in time than supposed, and the generations in the narrative are "coulisses," stage sets that screen the depth of field behind them.

If we see the end of the age, that's EndOfAnAge or TheMagicGoesAway. May overlap HereThereWereDragons, LostTechnology, and PointlessDoomsdayDevice. See also DeathOfTheOldGods, which is when a setting's ''past'' is described this way.