The twelve gentleman masquers were styled "Sons of Phoebus," and were awakened and aroused by Astraea, the goddess of Justice and of the "Golden Age" once fled and now returned, with a quartet of the great English poets of the past — Geoffrey Chaucer, John Gower, Edmund Spenser.
The speeches were "presented" by the mythological figures standard in the masque form — in this case, Pallas Athena and Astraea were the primaries.
King James's favorite, Robert Carr, 1st Earl of Somerset, was still awaiting trial for his role in the murder when the masque was presented, and his successor as royal favorite, George Villiers, 1st Duke of Buckingham, was moving into prominence as Carr's replacement.
The King was so pleased with the masque that he had a repeat performance scheduled for the evening of Twelfth Night, a few days after the initial presentation.
[5][6] The masques in the 1616 folio appear to be arranged in a consistent chronological order; and The Golden Age Restored, as noted, is last.