MADRID.- In its cultural programme, ”la Caixa” Foundation pays particular attention to the great cultures of the past. Accordingly, the institution regularly presents exhibitions aimed at enabling audiences to discover the ways in which men and women from different places and times have sought to answer the great universal questions, and at increasing our understanding of the world through recent historical and archaeological research.

This exhibition, jointly organised by ”la Caixa” Foundation and the British Museum within the terms established in the strategic agreement established by the two institutions, offers a unique opportunity to discover an extraordinary collection of works related to games, sports and competition in Ancient Greece. The objects on show range from marbles and dice used by children 2,200 years ago to a fragment of the frieze from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The competitive spirit, inherent to human nature
The Ancient Greeks believed that the competitive spirit was inherent to human nature and could transmit positive, innovative and dynamic power. In contrast to the individualism that dominates many aspects of life today, in Ancient Greece competition represented the collective personality and was a factor in social cohesion.

Nike, the goddess of victory who connects the world of mortals and the world gods, welcomes you to the exhibition and invites you to discover the idea of competition in Ancient Greece, where heroes, athletes and warriors illustrate the rivalry that dominated all aspects of life, including artistic creation. The Greeks aspired to attain excellence through the balance between body and spirit, through sport, on the one hand, and through philosophy, the arts and the sciences on the other.

The Greeks were sports enthusiasts, and the Panhellenic Games, which took place at Olympia, Delphi, Nemea and Isthmia, attracted the finest athletes. The winners were considered heroes and could win great prizes, both material and in terms of fame and prestige. Sporting events drew huge crowds and provided the Ancient Greeks with a popular source of entertainment.

Theatrical and musical contests also attracted thousands of spectators. Writers such as Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles and Aristophanes took part in these contests.

Another field in which the competitive spirit thrived was war. The Greek city states and kingdoms were in almost constant conflict with each other or with their neighbours. Battle scenes, both real and imaginary, were popular subjects in Greek art, from small gemstones to large architectural sculptures and memorials set up in honour of dead soldiers.

As is still the case today, people from different classes and backgrounds competed in civic life, though in the case of Ancient Greece, the arenas of competition ranged from public spaces to cemeteries. The powerful competed for greater public presence and recognition, and their disputes extended to the realm of luxury objects and continued after death, as is reflected in sumptuous tombs and mausoleums.

The sculptures from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, on loan for the first time
Agon! Competition in Ancient Greece brings together, for the first time, a large number of masterpieces from the renowned vaults of the British Museum, where more than 100,000 objects form what is one of the largest and most complete collections of antiquities from the classical world.

This generous selection, formed by 172 ancient works from the British Museum, ranges from around a dozen large statues to smaller figures, from finelyengraved seals to coins, all brought together for the first time. Indeed, many of these pieces are now displayed outside the British Museum for the first time as part of this exhibition, a good number of them brought here directly from the exhibition rooms in London.

This is the case, for example, of the final section of the show, which explores death through sculptures from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, the tomb of King Mausolus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Never before has the British Museum loaned out these famed, iconic sculptures, which have also been restored for the occasion.

As usual, the exhibition is completed by a publication, co-produced by ”la Caixa” Foundation and the British Museum. Edited by the curator of Agon, Peter Higgs, the publication contains contributions by the specialists Amelia Downer, Iona Eastman, Lesley Fitton, Emma Kelly, Elizabeth Shanks and Judith Swaddling.