History Of The Elgin Marbles Essay, Research Paper

Title: History of the Elgin MarblesContent: A history of the Elgin Marbles that are now in a Museum in England but were originally apart of the greek ParthenonThe Elgin Marbles were taken from the Parthenon by Lord Elgin in the 19th century,and placed in the British Museum. They are considered by many to be one of the mostimportant features of the Acropolis of Athens (were they there). The Greek government hasdemanded their return on several occasions, and the British government has refused toreturn them, claiming that they are housed and conserved better in Britain. In 1816, the Marbles were sold to the British government and were at oncetransferred from Burlington House to the British Museum, where a special gallery waseventually built for them by Sir Joseph Duveen at his own expense. Ever since then, thesepeices of art have been the subject for great legal debate. (Vranopoulos, 1985)The British government has many arguments against returning the Marbles to theirorignal location in Athens. First, they feel the marbles were brought there legitimatelyfrom the Turks on the basis of a legal document, the Sultan’s firman. Second, the objectin taking them was to save them from total destruction, and the Greeks were indifferent tothe fate of the their ancient treasures at the time. Finally, they feel that airpollution levels in Athens would quickly damage the Marbles. (Vranopoulos, 1985)The Greeks feel these reasons alone do not justify their actions. They feel thatthere is no evidence that the Marbles were purchased legitimately. They maintain that the Turkish officials were bribed by the British. They also feel that Elgin did more damageto them by removing them from the Parthenon. He had to saw some of the statues in half toreduce their weight and make transporting them easier. There is also evidence thatindicates the Greeks grieved for their lost marbles, including the myth that the Caryatidscould be heard wailing at night for their missing sister, and the claims by porterscarrying the statues who thought they could hear cries coming from the figures in thecrates. Finally, in response to the air pollution aligations, the greeks feel the Marblessuffered far more damage from their lengthy stay in the heavily polluted atmosphere ofLondon than they would have done if they had stayed in Athens where pollution is only avery recent phenomenon. Lord Elgin admitted to the House of Commons that London’sdampness had caused decay to the sensitive Pentelic marble. This was in 1816. (Williams,1996) The British Museum, to this day, tries to present Elgin as a lover of antiquity whodedicated himself to rescuing Pheidias’ sculptures from ultimate destruction. But thefacts of the case pesent a very different picture. With the Sultan’s firman in his hand,

Elgin seemed to think he had been given the right to take away anything he could lay hishands on. His actions didn’t pass unnoticed. A lot of Members of Parliament protestedagainst Elgin’s action in the House of Commons but over the course of time were forgotten. There were also a lot of English writers, among them Lord Byron, who wrote that Elgin wasa marble stealer and robber and his only interest was fame and glory from showing theMarbles. (Vranopoulos, 1985)Among the first people to criticise Lord Elgin was H. Hammersley MP. He advocatedthat if any future Greek government demanded the Marbles back, England should return themwithout any further procedure or negotiation. Also in 1890 an editorial by FranklinHarrison, which appeared in the magazine “19th Century”, entitled “Return the ElginMarbles!” maintained that the sculptures were more dear to the Greeks than to the British.(Williams, 1996)The decision of the British government to return the Stone of Scone to Scotlandencouraged the Greek government to demand, via the British Ambassador in Athens and theHeritage Minister in London, the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece. Also, theGreek culture minister, has also mentioned that he intends to pursue the matter throughpolitical and legal procedures involving Unesco, the European Union and the Council ofEurope. In December 1940 a Labour MP, Mrs Keir, asked the Prime Minister, Winston Churchillwhether the Marbles would be returned to Greece in partial recognition of that country’svaliant resistance to the Germans and the sacrifices of its people. The answer came backnegative. At the time that Mrs Keir officially announced her question, there was a largenumber of letters published in the Times favouring the return of the Marbles to Greece. Then in 1941 the head of the Labour Party, Clement Attlee, who was a member of the wartimecoalition government, replied to Mrs Keir’s question, saying that there was no intentionto take any legal steps for the return of the Marbles. At the present, the Brittish government is not negotiating. However, few peoplesupport the British Museum holding the Parthenon Marbles. Last year, 33 Labour MPs signeda Commons motion calling for the Parthenon Marbles to be returned to Greece. Also, anopinion poll revealed recently that out of 99,340 people who expressed an opinion, amassive 91,822 voted in favour of returning the Elgin Marbles to the place they residedfor over two millennia at the Acropolis. Previously, various opinion polls in thiscountry in the 1980s revealed that around 70% of the British public favoured their return. (Williams, 1996)I feel there is a very good chance that the Elgin Marbles may again see theiroriginal site at the Parethon. In a society like Brittains where the people utltimatlyrule, the government will have to follow suit sooner or later.