Pericles states “… you must reflect that it was by courage, sense of duty, and a keen feeling of honour in action that men were enabled to win all this, and that no personal failure in an enterprise could make them consent to deprive their country of their valour, but they laid it at her feet as the most glorious contribution that they could offer.” In this quote Pericles is stating how much strength, determination, and honor the Athenians male had. This relates to Polykleitos’ Doryphoros (c.450-440) because it also shows the all these manliness characteristic in one man. When looking at the statue it shows a physically fit muscular man with no scars or acne. The muscles and how physically fit the man was symbolizes the strength of the (Greek) civilization that built the statue. The statue’s foot placement of how the left foot is forward and the right foot is back gives the illusion that the statue is walking forward. This symbolizes their determination. This was Greek ideal male. This compares to contemporary ideas of masculinity because this statue is the definition of masculinity. Muscles and strength are used to define men.
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I agree, Pericles seem to convey a sense of honor and valour in his speech. whiles reading it i got a sense that this is what he would say to a group of athenian warriors, similar to Mel Gibson in Braveheart. When he mentions justice and courage it shows the mental power these athenians have. with the statue Doryphoros, like you said, portrays a defined muscular physic saying that “this is what a true man looks like.”
The fact that we interpret this statue as “the definition of masculinity”is indicative of how our modern western society is molded after ancient Greek culture. We too place a lot of emphasis on looking fit, working out, and spending time at the gym. Many Greek statues, such as the Discobolus, are engaged in sports, and indeed in today’s society we place a lot of emphasis on sports as well.