The Athenian Golden Age

I believe the demise of the Athenian Empire and ultimately what is now referred to as the Golden Age, was greatly affected, not only by Spartan’s Victory over Athens, but the multitude of things that allowed the victory of such a powerful empire to occur. This included, however was not limited to, the plague that swept through the population of Athens, the animosity caused by the power Athens had acquired over the local Greek polis and the wealth created by its greed, while in the Delian League.
Although, I feel all of these factors had equal weight in causing the demise of such a rising star. The ultimate circumstance that I see causing the end of the Golden Age was the growing resentment Sparta had for Athens. As Athens and Sparta went
I believe they saw Athens as a weak, broken city, which although smart didn’t have the resources to rebuild, however as the Delian League formed Athens became just the opposite of what Sparta saw them as.
With the Delian League backing Athens up and becoming the much needed chain of supply, as well as an abundance of resources , Athens was able to not only create an amazing military fleet, they were able to spread their culture and beliefs across the Agean Sea and around Greece. Athens soon became a scary and much more powerful force than Sparta or anyone in Greece for that matter, ever thought they could be. As the power rose, the fear of Athens grew stronger. I feel Sparta began realizing that as the stalwartness of Athens grew, the position of Sparta became weaker.
With this weak view Sparta realized it needed to take back the power that they felt was rightly theirs, even if it meant refusing much needed assistance during the revolt of the Helots following the earthquake of 464 BCE. Once Sparta recuperated from the Helot attack they built their Calvary and came together with other apposing city-states who either disagreed with the power of Athens or who wished to take back what they had lost from the Athenian reign over the Delian