Put simply, Athens was the brain, Sparta was the brawn. Sparta was the "military superpower" of Ancient Greece, even their women were very skilled at combat, Athens, named after Athena, goddess of wisdom, was all about art and science and literature etc. which not only cause feuds between the polis' but drove their success. Also, Athens relied on trade to get what they needed, while Sparta relied on farming and conquering other lands.
The Spartans were very good in hand to hand combat. The Athens had a very successful navy. The Athens made an invention of the ships so that, under multiple people at once would row and it would have to stay in that motion. There is more but I don't know what lesson you are on...
