The fifth century B.C.E. is the first period of Greek history known fully from written texts. Herodotus of Halicarnassus recorded the events of the early fifth century in his “Inquires” (Historia” in Greek), which mainly focused on the rise of Persia and the events leading up to, and through, the Persian Invasions. These “ Inquiries” are considered to be the earliest purely historical narratives in the European tradition (as opposed to the more fanciful “histories” preserved in Homer), and thus Herodotus has been dubbed the Father of History. The period following, from the retreat of the Persians and the rise of the Athenian Empire until the middle of the Peloponnesian War, was recorded by Herodotus’s protégé Thucydides, an Athenian general who wound up in exile in Sparta. The end of the Peloponnesian War and the events following it in the fourth century were preserved by Xenophon, who also wrote about the Persian royal family. These data are augmented by other written sources, such as epigraphy, plays and philosophical works referring to events of this period.(Bundin, Stephanie)p 69
The Battle of Marathon clash between Persian invasion force and an army of Athenians in 490 BCE. After Darius the Great’s fleet was destroyed in 492 BCE. Darius sent envoys to the Greek states in Spring 491BCE, demanding that each city-state send him the earth and water of vassalage. This was accepted by many of the states from the northern Aegean to the Dardanelles, but this was refused by Athens and Sparta.
(http://cais-soa.com/CAIS/History/hakhamaneshian/marthon.htm )
In the 490BCE, Darius assembled a fleet of over 600 ships and a large army near Tarsus. This armed force was jointly command by Darius nephew Artaphernes and a Median nobleman named Datis. The Persians suited their camp near the Makaria Spring, which provided a plentiful supply of water and the nearby plain had good grazing for the horses. The Athenians were warned of the Persian invasions by a series of beacon fires. They sent word to Sparta by fast runner and the Spartans announced that although they were sympathetic to the Athenian cause, they were forbade by religious beliefs to send their troops into combat until after the full moon. The distance between the two armies was approximately fifteen hundred meters when the advance was sound and the Athenian ranks moved forward at six o’clock . The advance stated at a brisk walk then developed into a trot and then into double time as they rushed the last 140-150 meters(http://cais-soa.com/CAIS/History/hakhamaneshian/marthon.htm )
Sophocles was born about 496 BC in Colonus Hippius (now part of Athens), he was to become one of the great playwrights of the golden age. The son of a wealthy merchant, he would enjoy all the comforts of a thriving Greek empire. Sophocles was provided with the best traditional aristocratic education. He studied all of the arts. By the age of sixteen, he was already known for his beauty and grace and was chosen to lead a choir of boys at a celebration of the victory of Salamis in 480 BC. In 468 BC, at the age of 28, he defeated Aeschylus, whose pre-eminence as a tragic poet had long been undisputed, in a dramatic competition. Sophocles wrote more than 100 plays of which seven complete tragedies and fragments of 80 or 90 others are preserved. He was the first to add a third actor. He also abolished the trilogic form. (http://www.ancientgreece.com/s/People/Sophocles/)
The most famous fifth-century-BCE sculptors working at Athens was Myron. Although none of his sculptures have survived, several later copies of one of his most famous pieces, the Discus Thrower still exist. The original, made around 450 BCE, is typical of its age in combining realistic treatment of an action with an idealized portrayal of the athlete.(Bundin,2004).p341
In most Greek communities, citizenship was limited to freeborn adult males over the age of either 18 or 21. Until 451/450 B.C.E. Athenians could claim citizenship as