What is the difference between Athenians and Greek thinking/tradition?

Answer 1

The Athenians were Greek, ya know. So the difference is "part and whole."

They tended more to democracy, trade, and tolerance. You might start with Pericles' Funeral Oration in Thucydides (Book II), in which he addresses exactly the question of the difference between Athens and the rest of Greece (particularly Sparta).