What's the real spirit of competition? What's the spirit of the modern Olympics? The questions arise every time the Olympic Games come around. An ongoing archeological exhibition from Greece, the birth place of Olympics, is here to give the answer.

The exhibition titled "Agon: The Spirit of Competition in Ancient Greece" is right under way at the Capital Museum from August 4 to October 14. The Greek word "Agon" translates as "Fair Play" and is personified and depicted as a winged spirit.

As part of "the year of Greek Culture in China" activities, the exhibition is organized by China's Ministry of Culture, State Cultural Relics Bureau, and Greek Ministry of Culture.

166 national treasures from the National Archaeological Museum of Greece are on exhibit at the Capital Museum with most on their first overseas tour. These valuables were created during the 6th and 5th Centuries B.C.. The pottery, sculptures, small statues and ancient coins show the importance of competitive games in ancient Greeks'daily life.

Due to their priceless value, the Ministry of Culture and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China attach great importance to these exhibits with them receiving first-class security treatment while in China. These relics, divided into four parts, aim at displaying the history of the competitive games in Greece.

The ancient Greeks competitive idea of combining myth and sports is shown at the first part of the exhibition. The exhibits here express human being's desire for getting stronger.

Sports statues are then shown for the second part of the exhibition. They tell people how the ancient Greeks strengthened themselves and defeated their opponents.

The philosophy of competition is then presented in the third part. Here the ancient Greeks not only loved sport but also poems, music and drama.

The last part presents the trophies of competitive games.

The curator of the Capital Museum says this exhibition presents the 2,500-year-old history of Greek sport, and their competitive ideas, sports culture and philosophy and how it can benefit us all.

"The year of Greek culture in China" began in Sept.2007 and ends this month. This event presented both modern and ancient Greek culture. And it included theatrical and dance performance, cinema tributes, archaeological and modern art exhibition, opera, folk concerts, modern and popular music, conferences and book exhibitions.