"Tonight, we will dine in Hades"
- Leonidas, Spartan General

Table Talk: For this activity, I want you to imagine that you are attending a fancy dinner before the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. All the Greek city-states are there.
Hobnobbing with other city-state officials before being seated, there is a slight commotion. It seems whomever drew up the seating chart put the representatives of Athens and Sparta next to each other at the dinner table. This could be awkward.
As a government official - representing either Athens or Sparta - you are given the responsibility of promoting your city-state. But, you must do so while demonstrating diplomatic tact and ruffling as few feathers as possible, especially if those feathers belong to your table-mate and diplomatic counterpart.
For this online debate, you will spin the wheel to find out which topic you will lead with during your dinnertime conversation.
Before posting your statement in our online forum, think about the role that your topic played in making Athens or Sparta unique, even great. Consider what it was about their government, their education, or the responsibilities of the citizens that made living in Athens or Sparta a wonderful place to be.
After thinking about those things, develop a detailed statement about how your topic benefits your city-state and helps maintain its distinct cultural identity.
By "statement," I mean a short, 3 - 5 sentence paragraph. Make every word count. Remember, Athenians and Spartans were each very proud of their culture. Let your words demonstrate that pride.
After you have posted your thoughtful statement about how your topic benefits your city state or how it makes it great, you need to thoughtfully reply to your ambassadorial counterpart. If you are Spartan, you reply to an Athenian ambassador. If you are Athenian, you reply to a Spartan. Think of this as a conversation.
You need to post replies in the two categories that were not assigned to you. For instance, if you were assigned to write about Athenian government, your replies need to be about Athenian education and Athenian citizenship. In other words, you will reply to a Spartan who has written about those two things.
Hobnobbing with other city-state officials before being seated, there is a slight commotion. It seems whomever drew up the seating chart put the representatives of Athens and Sparta next to each other at the dinner table. This could be awkward.
As a government official - representing either Athens or Sparta - you are given the responsibility of promoting your city-state. But, you must do so while demonstrating diplomatic tact and ruffling as few feathers as possible, especially if those feathers belong to your table-mate and diplomatic counterpart.
For this online debate, you will spin the wheel to find out which topic you will lead with during your dinnertime conversation.
Before posting your statement in our online forum, think about the role that your topic played in making Athens or Sparta unique, even great. Consider what it was about their government, their education, or the responsibilities of the citizens that made living in Athens or Sparta a wonderful place to be.
After thinking about those things, develop a detailed statement about how your topic benefits your city-state and helps maintain its distinct cultural identity.
By "statement," I mean a short, 3 - 5 sentence paragraph. Make every word count. Remember, Athenians and Spartans were each very proud of their culture. Let your words demonstrate that pride.
After you have posted your thoughtful statement about how your topic benefits your city state or how it makes it great, you need to thoughtfully reply to your ambassadorial counterpart. If you are Spartan, you reply to an Athenian ambassador. If you are Athenian, you reply to a Spartan. Think of this as a conversation.
You need to post replies in the two categories that were not assigned to you. For instance, if you were assigned to write about Athenian government, your replies need to be about Athenian education and Athenian citizenship. In other words, you will reply to a Spartan who has written about those two things.
Section AB
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Section CD
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Section EF
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