Would you rather…

For me, ‘Would you rather’ questions are a great way of breaking the ice when meeting new people. They have also provided me with plenty of interesting discussions as it is easy to ask people why they make a certain choice. But it can also be a fun way of introducing a new topic when you are teaching as it forces students to create a link between their own world and that of the topic which they are discussing. Therefore, I have created a list of ‘would you rather’ questions that can be used to start a lesson in a light and fun way. Or you can just use to have a fun evening with friends and family.

…spend the day at the library of Alexandria or attend the Dionysia in Athens?

…have dinner with Alexander the Great or go to a symposium with Philip II?

…consult the oracle of Delphi or visit a Roman auspex to know the will of the gods?

…fight in a Macedonian phalanx or the Roman testudo?

…see the Colossus of Rhodes or the huge statue of Zeus at Olympia?

…have supported Ptolemy I or Seleucos I as Alexander’s successor?

…live in Classical Athens or Sparta?

…spend an entire evening talking to Socrates or listen to Plato explain his allegory of the cave?

…bequeath your kingdom to the Romans or try to save it by having intercourse with one of its consuls?

…watch Achilles siege the city of Troy or walk among the gardens of Babylon?

…listen to Pericles’ famous funeral oration or witness the trial of Socrates?

…visit the tomb of Alexander the Great or the recently built Parthenon?

…have supported Caesar or Pompey?

…be Archimedes’ apprentice or Aristotle’s pupil?

…train like a Spartan or an Olympic athlete?

…party with Demetrius Poliorcetes or discuss philosophy with Antigonos Gonatas?

…witness the battle of Thermopylae or Gaugamela?

…celebrate the Eleusian mysteries or party it up with Dionysos in a cave?

…have dinner in Nero’s Domus Aurea or Hadrians villa at Tivoli?

…have a girls night with Sappho or Cleopatra VII?

…have Catullus write you a love poem or have him mock one of your enemies?

…support Cicero or Catilina?

…be abducted by Paris or remain married to Menelaus? Or stay single, because mythological men suck?

…have Pegasus fly you everywhere or have Cerberus waiting for you at home?

…betray the Spartans or the Athenians? (Alcibiades…)

…have Plutarch or Suetonius write your life story?

…roll a boulder up an hill every day and fail or carry the earth on your shoulders?

…battle the Persians at Marathon or stand with the 300 Spartans?

…travel with Herodotos or help Pheidias with an artistic project?

…spend a day at Knossos or at the Mycenean palace?

…cross the Rubicon with Caesar or watch the battle of Actium?

…travel to India in a merchant ship or serve as a soldier on the Seleucid border in Central Asia?

…rather live in Classical Athens or Hellenistic Alexandria?

…travel with Pausanias through Greece or go with Strabo while he was writing his Geografica?

…live at the court of Ptolemy II or Antiochus III?

…learn how to make and paint an amphora or be an apprentice in a scuptor’s atelier?

…be a myrmidon under Achilles’ leadership or a sailor on Odysseus’ ship?

…eat at a Sysition in Sparta or a Symposium in Athens?

…spend the day at the baths of Caracalla or at Tiberius’ villa on Capri?

…support Caesar or try to defend the Republic?

…accept Philip as leader and king or support Demosthenes as defender of the democracy?

That is it for now but the list will be frequently updated! So be sure to check back regularly for new ones and if have thought of a good question, feel free to contact me!