Marbles and Antiquities

by Emmanuel Bouhalakis

Mrs. Amal Alamuddin Clooney who visited Athens to discuss with the local authorities the possible return of the so-called Elgin Marbles to Greece, caused a vitriolic responce on behalf of parts of the British press. The UK media accused Mrs. Clooney that she just wanted a publicity stunt. Things got worse when the typical irony of some British columnists suggested that Greece ought to first repay its debt and then ask for the return of the antiquities. 

I will not delve into the blatant fact that Britain has its own enormous debt and that its serious financial situation has affected important parts of its government such as defense and healthcare. I will not even attempt to analyze that just a few weeks ago, the UK almost ceased to exist due to the Scottish referendum. I would only like to point out that Great Britain is no longer great nor is it an empire but rather a country with a deep identity crisis that is only expected to worsen in the coming years due to the considerable political instability and the turn to nationalism as depicted by the increasing power of the euro-sceptic UKIP party.   

Thus, the irony and contempt by some columnists and intellectuals against the Greek government and nation is unacceptable. 

It is a historic fact that Lord Elgin commited a barbaric act when he removed huge chunks of antiquities from the Parthenon and the surrounding areas. And the excuse provided by a certain columnist in the Daily Mail that Elgin asked and received the permission of the legitimate authorities, that is, the Ottomans, cannot possibly be any more ridiculous. How can one ask permission from a conqueror and tyrant who illegally and violently annexes lands not his own? Moreover, the firman Elgin claimed to have to remove the marbles has been vigorously challenged by historians and it is believed to be non-existent. Also, dubious translations of it in Italian have not been in favor of the authenticity of the original permit.

The main concern of the curators of the British Museum is that if the Parthenon marbles are returned to their homeland, many more countries would ask for their own artifacts to be returned. They think that the museum will suddenly lose a vast amount of its treasures. 

Nevertheless, this hypothesis is wrong. The Rosetta Stone in the British Museum or the Mona Lisa in Louvre are masterpieces consisting of only one piece. The Parthenon marbles are numerous. The Greek government could leave a few artifacts as samples in the British Museum and ask for the majority of the antiquities which now have their own separate room for display. The Acropolis Museum in Athens is one of the finest in the world and perfectly suitable to host them.

The constructive dialogue between open minded people in Greece and the UK can definitely be fruitful. The adherence to old, imperialistic ideas is as ancient as the antiquities themselves. The sooner one realizes that they are not an empire any more, the better they will understand their position in the world and the more they will seek to cooperate rather than dictate their will.