The Acropolis and the Parthenon are to Athens and the Greeks what Nelson’s Column and Big Ben are to London and to the British. They are more than monuments; they are statements of what it means to be Greek. So, how might we react if a Greek diplomat hired a firm of dodgy builders to hack off the clock faces of Big Ben or removed Nelson’s statue from his column whilst the country was under enemy occupation. And all for the purpose of self-aggrandisement—the decoration of his new country home and to fund an expensive divorce settlement through selling casts. We can just imagine the righteous outpouring of public outrage.
Yet, that is what Lord Elgin did to the Parthenon whilst ambassador to Constatinople between 1799 and 1803 and Greece was under the control of Ottoman Empire. Over three years Elgin and his henchmen gradually removed a collection of sculptures from the Parthenon which took 17 ships to transport back to London. Today, 45% of the Parthenon sculptures can be found in the stunning new Acropolis Museum and 50% are to be found in the Duveen Gallery of the British Museum. The poet Lord Byron captured the ‘crime’ in his epic work Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage (1812):
Dull is the eye that will not weep to see
Thy walls defaced, thy mouldering shrines removed
By British hands, which it had best behoved
To guard those relics ne’er to be restored.
Over the past two months I have walked through Greece and discovered for myself the strength of feeling amongst Greek people less about the removal of the Marbles and more about the impervious approach of previous British governments to calls for their return. In the political age of ‘localism’ and the custom for ‘national apology’ for historical injustices surely returning of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens from which were wrongfully taken over two hundred years ago is a wrong long overdue for correction.
Over the past fifteen years I have been party to a campaign to try and secure the return of the Lindisfarne Gospels from the British Library to Durham Cathedral from where they were stolen five centuries ago—at lasts it looks as if at least the Gospels will be returning home soon. I recall the brilliant campaign led by my colleague Lord Michael Forsyth when Secretary of State for Scotland in 1996 to return the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey to Scotland and the symbolism of that moment when the Stone was returned to Edinburgh Castle. We know the strength of feeling attached to these items. These are much more than objects they are symbols of identity, belonging and prestige, so too are the Parthenon Marbles.
Today Greece is economically on its knees and yet to the Greeks sense of identity through their history and culture is as great, if not greater than our own. We, indeed all of Western Civilisation owe so much to Greeks such as Pythagoras, Homer, Socrates, Aristotle and Plato whom, amongst others, developed the basis for systems of democracy, law, economics, mathematics, philosophy language and literature.
Next year London will host one of the Greeks greatest ever inventions and gifts to the world, the Olympic Games with the associated Cultural Olympiad and Olympic Truce, what better time for the government to give the Greeks something back which should never have been taken from them in the first place. The Greeks may well have ‘lost their marbles’ but the good news is that we still have them, we have taken good care of them and now we can give them back.
Michael Bates is currently in Albania 500 miles into a walk from Olympia, Greece to London to highlight the opportunities for the Olympic Truce www.olympictruce.org
Perhaps they should repay their debts first.
Lord Bates’ mind is wandering! The open road does strange things! I know it myself from the incessant rotation of the wheels on long distance cycle journeys! Plod! Plod!Plod! Plod!
There must be vast numbers of things which could be returned with great symbolism, meaning and moment for the original owners and their cultures, Nana Moskouri or no Nana Moskouri! (Now there is something to think about!)
Doesna’ mean they can ‘ave ’em back!
It is much the same case as “that the Olympic Games be restored permanently to Greece”
the latter would indeed be both historically-appropriate and long-term cost and security effective;
it would seem difficult to raise such a strong case for the Parthenon Marbles and for the Lindisfarne Gospels;
nonetheless I wholeheartedly agree that
both The Marbles and the Gospels should be returned to their ipso-facto sacred origins.
2005M13Jun
The Elgin Marbles belong to the UK. Who knows the long story of acquisition, which is not relevant anyway.
They have been looked after protected and would probably not be in existence today had they been left there.
If the Greeks want them and the current owners want to sell them, they should pay the full market price for them at auction.
After they clear all their debts first that is.
Epic Lord Bates. Epic! Paradise Lost; Paradise Regained.
Like the rest of us you know full well that the Parthenon suffers terribly from acid corrosion caused by city air pollution. One might take a dim view of Lord Elgin but can you imagine the state of these priceless marbles had they been left in place.
Would you have Lord Elgin as a latter day Tootles or a prudent preserver of antiquities?
iI have to agree with his lordship.
Yes, it indeed is an attractive aspect of the british museum, and I know some exchanges took place for it a few hundred years ago-But you must return it!
It would be like loosing a piece of the abby, or somebody buying the top of big ben- or a chunk of the great hall. It is a piece of your culture, as the statue is to them.
It shows the accomplishment of the best they can do-their life, belief, reverence, everything.
Point: It should be returned, maybe not ALL of the monuments in the british museum, but only those that are a core piece of the lands history and life, achievements.
Lord Byron, Lord Bates, thank you both for lamenting the plight of the Parthenon sculptures. Your support for the return of the Marbles to Greece is hugely appreciated.
Maud – if the Marbles here in London survived because they were forcibly removed from the Acropolis, how did the remaining 50% that Lord Elgin left behind survive in Athens? And can now be seen in the new (superlative) Acropolis Museum http://www.theacropolismuseum.com
Reuniting the Marbles would do more than redress a historical injustice, it would retrieve the artistic unity of a UNESCO World Heritage monument.
Lord Byron, Lord Bates, thank you both for lamenting the plight of the Parthenon sculptures. Your support for the return of the Marbles to Greece is hugely appreciated.
Maud – if the Marbles here in London survived because they were forcibly removed from the Acropolis, how did the remaining 50% that Lord Elgin left behind survive in Athens? And are now exhibited in the new (superlative) Acropolis Museum http://www.theacropolismuseum.gr
Reuniting the Marbles would do more than redress a historical injustice, it would retrieve the artistic unity of a UNESCO World Heritage monument.
Why don’t we arrange a swap?
They give us back out money and the interest, we give them back their marbles.
Fair and equitable.
Fair sounds good except, we’ve kept what was not really ‘ours’ for over 200 years and some might take a view on that. As the first request was made in 1835 it could be argued that the Marbles have been retained as ‘treasures’ for the British Museum and contributed to the museum’s number of visitors. But like the fair approach Lord Blagger.
On the matter of equitable, Greece has already offered other works of art to the British Museum, so that their collection would not be diminished.
A Greek Christmas
Father Christmas went to Greece
He found the children sad
Chin up lads he said to them
fings cant be that bad
some men in suits came ,they replied,
and stole our gifts away
for we are poor ,or so it seems,
and it’s the poor as always pay;
But by St Thomas, you are right,
things are not so black,
now that all our toys are gone
can we have our Marbles back?
What better publicity for London Olympics 2012 and for Britain than to give the Greeks back their Marbles during the opening ceremony! Is it worth starting a petition?