The Elgin Marbles

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 ancient Roman Colosseum is perhaps the most astonishing wonder in the history of Architecture known to man kind. The Colosseum served to provide a place of entertainment for the people of Rome and dole out harsh punishments portrayed through shows ending with death to menaces of society. The basis for the idea behind the Colosseum began with the Roman Emperor Vespasian who overtook the Emperor Nero to gain control of the Roman Empire. Much like Nero and other emperors during his time, Vespasian developed a reputation for conveying harsh punishment upon the citizens that jeopardized law and order in the empire. Therefore in 69 A.D. he ordered master craftsman to employ gangs of slaves to construct a facility that would satisfy the

The Elgin Marbles emulate a struggle of nations to come to agreeance over cultural heritage that idolizes the context of visual sculptures. In the possession of the Britons, the Marbles reach a larger demographic with the aim of the British Museum in educating for the public benefit. Thus, if not removed from the Parthenon in the early 1800’s, further destruction to the priceless works of art would have occurred. Although the marbles hold an imperial stigma in the British possession, the creation of the Parthenon also distributed a national imperial value after the Athenian conquest of the Persian Wars that in contrast is highly related to Britain in the period of acquisition. Culture does not always belong only to the society that created

One thinks that it is wrong to keep something from its original home. In the article “Returning Antiquities to Their Countries of Origin” in paragraph three, sentence two, it states “In the early 19th century, the Earl of Elgin had numerous sculptures taken from Greece to the Uk.” also in paragraph three, setance three, it states “These include half of the surviving sculptures from the Parthenon in Athen.” If one takes away the sculptures ones taking away the history. The sculpture were built to show the history of the past. They were built to show what had happened in the past and who was in it. They show Greeces culture and beliefs. If one wants to take the sculptures, than the Greeks and other countries won't know what their past was. People and historians have learned alot from the Greek artwork, sculpture, books , paintings, and much more. When

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 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.

In “Bring Them Home,” the author explains why certain countries sell their artifacts to protect them from conflicts in their country. Many countries need a place to send their very important valuables to prevent them from getting damaged. A country will sale or send their valuables to a trustable country.As stated in the article,Greece sent “stunning marble sculptures” that were in the Parthenon Temple to keep them from being damaged by the Turkish Government. Now,Greece has took their independence back and wants their sculptures back.It’s only right to send them back considering that Britain’s job was to

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.

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:

I believe that Lord Elgin did the right thing. He helped preserve the statues because there would have been no statues left, if he did not. Athens had already pulverized about forty percent of the statues, for the limestone. They would have pulverized the rest if Lord Elgin had not stepped in. If every country got to keep their own artifacts, how would anyone ever get to visit all the different artifacts that one museum can offer? If the artifacts were donated or purchased, would that be fair to the purchaser? No, it is not. Lord Elgin did everything legally, including getting an export permit from Ottoman authorities, so that he could bring them to Britain

First off, your post raises two great points for both sides of the Partheon Marble dispute. While I also feel the marbles should be returned to Greece, I can now see the British Museum's reluctance to return them due to the fear of other countries wanting to take their country's art back.

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

The Parthenon is located on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece; is a former temple which was dedicated to Greek goddess Athena, whom the Athens considered their leader. According to the British Museum (2015), The Parthenon was built nearly 2500 years ago and has a long and complex history. After thousands of years it became a church of the Virgin Mary of the Athenians, then a mosque and then finally resulted in a archaeological ruin. After the result of a ruin, the buildings were reformed in which various sculptures were damaged. During the 1800’s after the Parthenon being damaged, the Elgin marbles (Elgin) a part of the remaining sculpture, was removed and given to a British museum. For hundreds of years there has been a question if the British museum should return the Elgin marbles back to the Athenians or not. I believe that that the safest and most beneficial place for the Elgin marbles is the British museum, therefore the British should not return the marble to the Athenians.

The main, non-personal, reason I believe the art works should stay in Britain is because it would take a large portion of time and require a huge financial contribution. This contribution would most likely have to be provided by the British because the Greeks would only