序一 

    “光荣属于希腊，伟大归于罗马。”继“罗马：城市与帝国”特展之后，策划古希腊展览， 是一项非常有挑战的工作。

       谈到古希腊，我们首先会想起荷马史诗里的众神：天空之神宙斯、众神之后赫拉、海洋 之神波塞冬、美丽女神阿芙洛狄忒、智慧女神雅典娜……或者想起特洛伊木马和美丽的海伦； 也有可能想起伟大的哲学家苏格拉底、亚里士多德、柏拉图，抑或是想起依山傍水、绿荫如 盖、风光旖旎的奥林匹亚村；当然，还有可能想起爱琴海和那一抹经典的米克诺斯蓝。但是， 我们想要给观众呈现的是一个全面的、和而不同的古希腊。

       随着研究的深入，我们发现古希腊人时刻都在竞争，并相信众神可以给予人才能和技能 以取得胜利。在古代没有一个地方是被单独称为“希腊”或“赫拉斯”（希腊名）的，希腊大陆 被山脉和大海分隔成许多不同的区域。希腊城邦林立，数百个不同的希腊共同体散布在地中 海区域。彼此分离的地理环境，既让希腊城邦因共同的语言、宗教和传奇的历史团结在一起， 也让他们充满着竞争意识。然而正是这种竞争精神，才真正铸就了辉煌灿烂的古希腊文明。 于是，我们用一个关键词“竞争”和三个不同角色“运动员、战士与英雄”，串起了整个展览的 叙事线索。

       故事，从胜利女神尼姬开始讲起。作为泰坦神帕拉斯和冥河女神斯堤克斯的女儿，尼姬 有三个姐妹：强壮之神克拉托斯、热情之神仄罗斯和暴力女神比亚，她们都涉及竞争与冲突。 通常，尼姬还与智慧女神雅典娜及奥林匹亚诸神首领宙斯联系在一起。于是，我们用 177 件 精美的文物从童年游戏、体育运动、音乐绘画、军事装备、陵墓装饰等多方面展示了希腊人 的竞争精神。这些文物中，从孩童时代玩羊拐骨的赤陶组雕到装饰精美的墓饰碎片，从惟妙 惟肖的喜剧演员雕像到形态各异的赛跑者青铜小雕像，从制作精良的全套青铜盔甲到璀璨夺 目的胜利女神玉髓宝石，无不展示着古希腊人刻在骨子里的竞争精神。

       值得一提的是，来自世界古代七大奇迹之一—哈利卡纳索斯陵墓的 5 件文物，将首次 在国际巡展中展出。

    “立江南，观世界”，秉持着这个办馆理念，我们将“古希腊人：运动员、战士和英雄”特 展呈现给了观众。

                                                                                                                                                              谢晓婷

                                                                                                                                                 苏州博物馆馆长

进入展厅

FOREWORD

‘To the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome’. After Rome: City and Empire, it presents great challenges to us on display the exhibition on Ancient Greeks. 

When talking about ancient Greece, we will first think of the gods in Homer's epics: God of the sky - Zeus, Queen of the gods - Hera, God of the sea - Poseidon, Goddess of beauty - Aphrodite, Goddess of wisdom - Athena...Or thinking of the Trojan Horse and the beautiful Helen; or the great philosophers - Socrates, Aristotle and Plato; or the picturesque village of Olympia, surrounded by mountains and rivers. And, of course, we may also think of the Aegean Sea and the classic Mykonos blue. However, what we would like to showcase to the audiences is a comprehensive and different view of ancient Greece. 

With further research, we find that the ancient Greeks were constantly competing and believed that the gods could give them talent and skills to win. In antiquity there was no one place known as Greece, or Hellas, to give it its Greek name. Even on the Greek mainland there were many different regions, separated by mountain ranges and the sea. Hundreds of distinct Greek communities had spread across the Mediterranean. Despite this geographical separation, the Greeks shared a common language, religion and legendary past which united them, but they were also fueled with a sense of rivalry. However, it is this spirit of competition that truly created the splendid ancient Greek civilization. Therefore, we use the key word ‘competition’ and three different roles ‘athletes, warriors and heroes’, to string the narrative thread of the whole exhibition. 

The story begins with Nike, the Goddess of victory. Nike was the daughter of Pallas the Titan god and Styx, Goddess of the river that formed the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead. She had three powerful siblings associated with rivalry (Zelos), strength (Kratos) and force (Bia) all pertinent to (or connected to) competition and conflict. Besides, Nike was usually associated with Athena, Goddess of war and wisdom, and Zeus, head of the Olympian family. 

Therefore, we selected 177 pieces exquisite artifacts to show the competitive spirit of the Greeks from different aspects, ranging from childhood games, sports, music and paintings to military equipment, mausoleum decorations. These objects, from terracotta group showing children playing knucklebones to the refined decoration of mausoleum, from lifelike statuettes of comic actors to vivid bronze statuettes of runners, from well-made full armor to dazzling chalcedony gem engraved with Victory, all show the competitive nature of ancient Greeks. 

 What is worth mentioning is that five objects from the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos, the tomb of King Mausolus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, will be on display for the first time in an international touring exhibition. 

‘From Jiangnan to the World’. Adhering to this concept, we present the special exhibition ‘Ancient Greeks: Athletes, Warriors and Heroes’ to the audiences. 

Xie Xiaoting 

Director of Suzhou Museum

 序二

       能在苏州博物馆举办“古希腊人：运动员、战士与英雄”展是大英博物馆的荣幸。这是两家博 物馆之间的第三次合作，前两次分别是 2016—2017 年在苏州博物馆本馆举办的“意大利文艺复兴 时期素描精品展”和 2021—2022 年在苏州博物馆西馆落成之际举办的“罗马：城市与帝国”展。

    “古希腊人：运动员、战士与英雄”展探讨了古希腊社会中普遍存在的竞争精神。无论是在体 育竞技、戏剧、战争、政治领域还是在日常生活中，古希腊人都以争强好胜的天性著称。虽然这些 活动往往基于冲突，但竞争也具有一种积极的凝聚力，由此而产生了繁荣的文化和宝贵的思想交流。

      体育竞技和战争都是充满了竞争精神的领域。希腊历史和神话充满了神祇、英雄、运动员和战 士们的光辉事迹。但是，体能和军事实力并非古希腊竞争的唯一表现形式。古希腊人还通过表演艺 术竞赛来培养和展示竞争，例如剧作家和音乐家为赢取戏剧和音乐节的奖品而同台竞争。

       富裕的古希腊人甚至在死亡中也要一争高下。他们竞相通过建造纪念碑来记录自己崇高的地位 并留下永恒的遗产，从而展示优越感。本次展览的最后一个展区通过古代世界七大奇迹之一—哈 利卡纳索斯的摩索拉斯王陵出土的雕塑来探讨这一主题。

       本次展览的展品包括在整个地中海地区的古代城市和殖民区中发现的一百七十多件物品。这些 展品展示了一个充满活力和创造性的社会，也让我们得以了解古希腊世界的生和死。我们不仅了解 到竞争在战争或固定节日中的作用，也看到了各种挑战如何影响个人的生活。

       本次展览的所有展品，从大型雕塑到雕刻精美的小印石和硬币，都表明激烈的竞争体现在古希 腊生活的方方面面。陶绘上的场景生动地展现了神、英雄和凡人的斗争，同时展示的还有日常用品， 其中很多是运动员、剧作家或公共慈善家献给神祇的祭品，以感谢神赐予他们胜利和好运。

       从一开始，大英博物馆的使命就是通过人性的共通来联结彼此，这一理念依然是我们当今活动 的根基。我们希望与全世界的同仁和博物馆合作，尽可能广泛地分享藏品。我们与苏州博物馆的长 期合作一直是我们的骄傲和成就感的来源，我们的合作也例证了国际博物馆之间紧密合作所能取得 的成就。

                                                                                                                                                 哈特维希·费舍尔 

                                                                                                                                                  大英博物馆馆长

FOREWORD

The British Museum is honoured to present Ancient Greeks: Athletes, Warriors and Heroes at Suzhou Museum. It is the third collaboration between our two organisations, following Italian Renaissance Drawings presented at Suzhou Museum’s original building in 2016-17 and Rome: City and Empire, an exhibition which inaugurated the museum’s West Branch in 2021-22. 

 Ancient Greeks: Athletes, Warriors and Heroes explores the spirit of competition that was prevalent throughout ancient Greek society. Whether in the field of sport, drama, warfare, politics or everyday life, the ancient Greeks were well known for their competitive nature. While these activities were often underpinned by conflict, competition was also a positive and unifying force, generating a thriving culture and valuable exchange of ideas. 

 Sport and war were both arenas in which the rivalrous spirit famously flourished. Greek history and myths abound in the glorious deeds of gods, heroes, athletes and warriors. However, physical and military prowess were not the only manifestations of ancient Greek competition. Rivalry was also cultivated and demonstrated through contests in the performing arts, where playwrights and musicians competed to win prizes at drama and music festivals. 

 Wealthy ancient Greeks vied for superiority even in death by commissioning monuments that would record their high status and leave an enduring legacy. The final section of this exhibition explores this subject through sculptures from the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos, the tomb of king Mausolus, one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World.

 The exhibition includes more than one hundred and seventy objects which were discovered in ancient cities and settlements across the Mediterranean. The objects are emblematic of the vibrant and innovative society they were created in, and they have done so much to enlighten our understanding of life and death in the ancient Greek world. We do not only come to understand the role of competition on the battlefield or during structured festivals, but we also see how challenges touched individual lives. 

All of the objects in this exhibition reveal how intense rivalry underpinned all aspects of ancient Greek life, from large sculptures to tiny, exquisitely engraved seal-stones and coins. Scenes on painted pots bring the struggles of gods, heroes and mortals to life and are shown alongside everyday objects - many of which were dedicated to the gods by athletes, dramatists or public benefactors to offer thanks for their victories and good fortune. 

 From the outset, the British Museum’s mission has been to connect us with our common humanity and this concept continues to underpin our activities today. We look to share the collection as widely as possible, working in collaboration with colleagues and museums across the world. Our longstanding partnership with Suzhou Museum is an ongoing source of pride and achievement, exemplifying what can be accomplished when international museums work together closely. 

Hartwig Fischer

Director of the British Museum