Athens vs Sparta 雅典与斯巴达

Compare government, school, the army and daily life in two city-states, then decide where you’d rather live. Teacher copy has an answer key.

Athens and Sparta were both Greek city-states, but life in them was very different. Use the slides and the word bank.

Word bank

Government: democracy · citizen · assembly · vote
Places: city-state · peninsula · colony

1. Compare

a. Who made the laws?

Athens 雅典

Sparta 斯巴达

b. What did boys learn?

Athens 雅典

Sparta 斯巴达

c. What were they best at?

Athens 雅典

Sparta 斯巴达

2. Same or different?

Write one thing that was the same in Athens and Sparta.

3. Who could vote in Athens?

Circle the people who could vote in the Athenian assembly.

a free man with Athenian parents · a woman · an enslaved person · a trader from Egypt living in Athens

4. Your choice

Would you rather live in Athens or Sparta? Give two reasons.

I would rather live in ______________ because …

Answer key

1. (a) Athens: citizens voted in the Assembly (democracy); Sparta: two kings and a council of elders. (b) Athens: reading, writing, music, public speaking; Sparta: army training from age 7. (c) Athens: the navy, trade, plays and philosophy; Sparta: the army on land.

2. Both were Greek city-states; both spoke Greek; both honored the same gods; both went to the Olympic Games.

3. Only a free man with Athenian parents.

4. Any choice with two reasons from the lesson.