In 494 BC the Persian War started. Persia had an army that used lighter gear, a variety of mixture in people, and a tremendous amount of more people compared to Athens. When looking at the facts on paper, many would predict the Persians to win the war. Even though the Persians had a lot more “talented” soldiers with more practice, the Athenians ended up only having to lose a few men, while the Persians lost the war and many men. This started the Golden Age. The war had a huge impact on Athens culturally. The Athenians started to show their confidence through their city. Praxiteles had sculptures that were life size made of bronze or marble that represented the realistically and elegance of inner intensity of the hero or god. Through architect they had many new temples and building at this time. For example, the Athenian Acropolis is a temple that was built in the 5th century BC that expressed the idea of the city-state being controlled by the citizens. Greece became well known for their tragedy dramas. The dramas were held at the theater of Dionysys. The stories were based on history and mythology. There were three main actors and a chorus that danced and sang. Sophocles introduced a less traditional way with being more dramatic. The wealthy people in the city were expected to contribute money to keep the theater …show more content…
Warren Hollister in chapter 8, In the Culture of The Golden Age, Hollister interprets and explains that Greece’s Golden Age culture was “Superb taste and unsurpassed excellence” (Page 95). He believes that Greece was at its peak between the Persian Wars and the Peloponnesian Wars. During the Golden Age, Hollister argues that the Greeks represented themselves by citizens, not individuals, they demonstrated their greatness through drama, sculpture, and architecture. Drama, not only brought the Athenians together for entertainment, but for acting too. Many Athenians were in the plays, that taught the people “Human experience” (Page 120). When Xerxes burned down the Acropolis, it left the Athenians the opportunity to embrace their confidence. Hollister explains how because of Athens imperialism, they were able to build a new Acropolis and represent the classical ideal. Through sculptors, Athens was able to show of their wealth by having Phidias place large gold, ivory statues in the open for ships to see. Hollister explains how the sculptors express the idea of men not having individual problems an how they were ideally proportional. With all of their new advancements, Hollister tells how during the Golden Age, Greece was incapable of making anything ugly and that they were by far the best