Should Elgin Marbles Stay In Britain?

It seems logical the originating country is the rightful owner to its national treasures. To deny the request for the return of the treasures is cultural theft. The treasures reflect the heritage and foundation of the people in the originating nation. The request should be honored in most circumstances. From the article “Bring Them Home

Based on your course study and the summary found at "About.com European History" ...what is your opinion? Should the Elgin Marbles stay in Britain or be returned to Greece? There is a debate between the modern Britain and Greece about the Elgin Marbles. These Marbles are pieces of stone that were removed from the Ancient Greek Parthenon, during the nineteenth century by Thomas Bruce, Seventh Lord Elgin. They are now located in the British Museum.

As I mentioned, this is an extremely controversial topic that has raised a lot of difference in opinions. Furthermore, I must admit that those arguing for the sculptures to remain in Britain do make some interesting points that plenty of people have taken into consideration. One of their arguments is that the sculptures were already in a damaged and fragile condition, and leaving them in Greece would have destroyed them completely (‘The Parthenon Marbles: Refuting the Arguments”, par 6). In the YouTube video, “Parthenon Marbles Debate ", one of Tristam Hunt’s arguments is if the Greeks are able to acquire their historic artwork, this may cause other countries to demand their historic artifacts as well, not just from the British Museum, but from museums all over the world as well. I can see the counter arguments that this controversy issue involves. However, regardless of whether they were in a horrible condition, the Greeks were never consulted, nor did they have a say regarding the selling of this artwork to Elgin. Now, when it comes to everyone claiming and demanding they receive their ancient artwork, like historian Hunt said; this is true. It can happen, but I don't believe that any other artifacts have the amount of significance that these sculptures do. The Greeks worked their hearts

The Parthenon was an amazing and expensive achievement of ancient Greece. Although it is mostly in ruins today, there is enough knowledge about its construction to allow others to recreate the structure. The Parthenon is often constructed not only to honor the ancient Greeks, but also to honor the culture and place where it is recreated. Although the Parthenon’s influence is tremendous throughout the western world, it is generally only faithfully represented in part- the nearest representations found during my research include the Walhalla and the Nashville Parthenon. This paper focuses mostly on the original building’s history and its influence on American architecture, with a short discussion on a site in Germany. Research was conducted through the use of our course’s textbook, our consortium library, and educational websites. After my research was concluded, I became particularly fascinated with the golden ratio, which is debated to have been used during the construction of the Parthenon. I would like to research this in future work.

Acropolis of Athens, and more specifically the Parthenon is the most mysterious. It is thought to be the most characteristic monument in in Greek history. Symbolizing the beginning of Western civilization, it is also an icon of European history. The Parthenon was dedicated to Athena, Goddess of the city of Athens and the goddess of wisdom. In modern culture, more than half the sculptures are now located in the British Museum in London. Christianity was established in the 6th century. With this development, the temples were changed to Christian churches. Today the return of the Parthenon sculptures to their original home of Acropolis is highly anticipated.

The Elgin Marbles is the common name for an extensive collection of the Ancient Greek sculpture which has been on display in the British Museum since the early-1800s. The collection includes 75 meters (247 feet) of the original 160-metre (524-foot) frieze from the Parthenon temple in Athens. The frieze is the highly decorative section above the columns in classical Greek architecture. The collection is controversial because of its namesake the seventh Earl of Elgin removed the treasures from Greece with the permission of the Ottomans, who occupied Greece from the mid-15th century until 1821. For decades, the Greeks have called for the priceless artifacts’ return, but the British Museum defends its ownership as legitimate.

“Who Owns the Elgin Marbles?” this question continues to linger in some minds today, and just so happens to be reviewed in the respectfully titled article written by John Henry Merryman in 1986. In this article, Merryman, in the most unbiased way possible, assesses both Britain’s and Greece’s side of the argument pertaining to the ownership of the Elgin Marbles and whether they should be returned to Greece after being removed from the Parthenon by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century. Within the article, the main points discussed regard the morality and legality of the removal of the marbles. Merryman goes on to discuss three more main concerns dealing with the marbles and where they belong:

The Elgin Marbles is a culturally important piece of history for Greece. Having said this, it is important that the British museum focuses on being fair and follows the steps taken by other countries to return the items taken from Acropolis. By returning the item, the British Museum will simply be showing a form of peace and will help in attaining a positive outcome.

The controversy began almost one hundred years ago. Between 1801 and 1812, Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin and British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, removed several sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens and shipped them to England, where he sold them to the British Museum in 1816. 167 years later, Melina Mercouri, Greek Minister of Culture, requested that the “Elgin” Marbles be returned. This request sparked one of the greatest debates the art world has ever known. For the past two decades, people have argued over who has the rights to these Marbles. The Greek position is certainly understandable from a cultural and emotional point of view. However, from the standpoint of

The Frieze was taken from the Parthenon between 1801 and 1812 by Thomas Bruce the Earl of Elgin after he was granted permission to take them by the Ottoman Empire. He later sold them to the British Government in 1816 where it was moved to the British Museum in 1832. The Frieze was shipped in two stages with the first set going in 1803 in 200 boxes with the second shipment in 1809. The transportation of the marbles took so long as Elgin was imprisoned on the Spanish border at Pau for three years. The entire removal process of the marbles taken from the Parthenon cost Elgin £74,000. (4)

Now in Greece's art section, we took their idea of pottery and sculptures from them. We also took their perfection in art. In the architecture portion, we

One of the most well-known components of the Parthenon are the enormously beautiful and important marble sculptures that were placed in the pediment of the monument. These marbles are shrouded in controversy as to whom they belong: Greece or Britain. These marble sculptures were removed between 1801 and 1812 in order to protect them from possible destruction caused by the war between the Grecians and the Venetians, taken to Britain for refuge by the Earl of Elgin, and sold to the British Museum to be displayed. John Henry Merryman discusses his view on the issue of the ownership of marbles by presenting two main points and the validity of both sides. One aspect of his examination revolves around the legality of the removal of these sculptures.

Axum is one of the prestigious historical artifact in Ethiopia and the indicator of the early Ethiopian civilization. So bring it back to its original places gives satisfaction for the people and the country. Meanwhile, that will be good if The British Museum retunes the Marbles to its original place because same as Axum Athens was the early civilization of

In contrast to what I believe, other individuals would counter my belief. One counter argument I could receive from other individuals would be that the Parthenon is missing the Elgin marbles which is a very significant piece for their culture, since it represents their goddess Athena. Others would argue that the sculpture looks incomplete without its Elgin marbles (Elgin), so therefore the British museum should return the Elgin marbles to Athens. According to the British Museum (2015),

However, I personally believe that there are a wide number of museums across the world with the ease of accessibility for a variety of activities such as entertainment, education, etc. Even though this argument to to favor the British over the Greeks however if we look at it in terms of the rights perspective we would have to give the Greeks their right to show the Marbles in their own country. Furthermore, The Greeks have shown effort by constructing the “New Acropolis Museum” even after several problems and delays with “both agreement and disagreement from the very beginning on the site chosen and the design of the building itself”(Online Citation) the museum was finally built to house the Marbles and other valuable sculptures throughout the Greek history. It should be also noted that the British museum has failed in their duty to protect the marbles between 1937-1938 where an art dealer whos purpose was to finance the museum going by the name of Lord Duveen had the marbles scrubbed in order for them to appear more whiter (Seminar Packet,pg 118).As a result,Lord Duveen has caused essential damage to the original paint of the