Britain and Greece Argue Over Stolen Sculptures

A few weeks ago, it was mentioned in class that Britain did a little bit of looting from Greece's Parthenon. Specifically, Thomas Bruce, the British ambassador to the area during the early 1900's, managed to make off with a sizeable amount of sculptures and architecture from the Acropolis and the Parthenon. The marble pieces were sent back to Britain and the British Museum, where they have remained for almost two hundred years. In class, there was a brief mention that Britain may not have legal ownership of the pieces and that they should be returned to their homeland of Greece.

Ever since then, Greece has advocated the return of the "Elgin Marbles", while Britain has refused to do so for almost two centuries. The British Museum has adamantly claimed that the pieces do not belong to Greece, as they are a part of history, and as such, should be viewed as part of the entire world history. Also, the British propped up their arguments with claims that if Greece receives its monuments back, what's to stop other nations from withdrawing their pieces from foreign museums? Another crucial British argument was that Greece did not have any measures of protecting the pieces and that pollution and weathering would have damaged them anyways.

Greece has its own arguments to get the Elgin Marbles back. One point is that the actions of Thomas Bruce were pretty close to vandalism and looting, as he defaced a historical site and damaged many of the monuments and sculptures. The other Greek point is that they have newly constructed The New Acropolis Museum, a state of the art museum is dedicated to the Acropolis. The New Acropolis Museum has many protective measures in place and claims to be safer for the Marbles than the British Museum.

So far, the only real British offer was a temporary loan of the pieces to the new museum. However, this only angered the Greeks, as they believe that by acknowledging the loan offer, they would provide legitimacy to British ownership of the Elgin Marbles. As the Greeks see it, only an owner can loan things out, and the British have no right to do so, because they are not the legal owners of the pieces. Greece is not the only country demanding artifacts from Britain, as that list extends from India to Nigeria.

More information can be found at:
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/artdesign/story/2009/06/12/parthenon-marbles-loan.html