Unless it is supposed to be just a very superficial analogy
I think it is a very superficial analogy—there’s a popular high-school-level trope that, basically, Athens made art, Sparta made war, and Athens won. Reality, as you might imagine, was considerably more complicated.
In which sense? Athens never triumphed over Sparta, they just survived, and you know why? Wikipedia tells you:
Corinth and Thebes demanded that Athens should be destroyed and all its citizens should be enslaved. However, the Spartans announced their refusal to destroy a city that had done a good service at a time of greatest danger to Greece
I think it is a very superficial analogy—there’s a popular high-school-level trope that, basically, Athens made art, Sparta made war, and Athens won. Reality, as you might imagine, was considerably more complicated.
For starters the fact that Sparta actually won.
Here you are, spoiling a nice meme with actual history.
Temporarily: their allies turned on them and Athens soon rebuilt its navy. Ultimately Alexander and Rome ended the whole struggle permanently.
In which sense? Athens never triumphed over Sparta, they just survived, and you know why? Wikipedia tells you:
Doesn’t quite match your narrative, does it?