CULTURE-GREECE: Return of artifacts debated

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Wes Jonasson

ATHENS, Feb 3 2000 (IPS) - Standing atop Lycabettus hill in the centre of Athens, the capital of Greece, looking down on the breathtaking Acropolis bathed in golden sunlight is a certainly a wondrous sight.

Just as magnificent is the Acropolis at night lying in the warm embrace of the moonlight.

But there was a time when the Acropolis, in its full regalia, was even more awesome. That was when the 17 exquisite statues and 56 panels of a frieze adorned the Parthenon, the temple structure that dominates the top of the Acropolis – ancient Athens upper town and fortifications.

But these works of art, known as the Elgin Marbles, are far away from home. They reside in a British museum. Their return is the subject of an intense, emotional, ongoing debate between the Hellenic Republic of Greece and the United Kingdom.

According to historians, the marbles were removed in 1801 by Lord Elgin (Thomas Bruce) the seventh Earl of Elgin, the eleventh Earl of Kincardine, and Ambassador of England to Selim III, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire in Constantinople.

Apparently the Sultan had issued the Earl with an edict permitting him to ‘mine’ for antiquities – a splendid hobby for any ‘gentleman’ of the day. Greece was then a corner of the Ottoman Empire.

However the British, with considerable aplomb, insist the marbles were legally purchased from their owner. Afterwards they were purchased by the Crown through an official act of Parliament in the House of Commons for 35,000 pounds sterling.

The Greeks, with not a little nationalist pride and indignation, argue that the marbles were simply looted. They will point out that Lord Elgin continued his “mining” activities until 1811.

The Scottish lord bargained with the crown for five more years. Finally, a deal was struck, and Parliament passed its law in June, 1816.

Such were the crass indignities that befell the work of Pheidias and his talented and enthusiastic students!

There the matter remained until a few years ago when the fiery former film actress and socialist legislator Melina Mercouri, Greece’s Minister of Culture, began to make official requests for the marbles to be returned.

Ever a rebel with a cause, Mercouri’s campaign was continued after her death by her film director husband Jules Dassin and a long list of celebrity and political supporters.

The Greek case received an unexpected boost last year when one William St. Clair, a former senior British civil servant, revealed in his book “Lord Elgin and the Marbles” that the marbles has been damaged since they came into the hands of the British.

According to St Clair, in the late 1930s, another army of unskilled workers were instructed, at the instigation of the British museum’s chief patron Lord Duveen — to clean the marbles of their less than pristine patina which had been acquired over the centuries.

In a country teeming with classical scholars, Duveen imagined that the marbles must have been the purest of white. So, to that end, they went at it with copper chisels and wire brushes scouring the marbles without mercy!

Alerted for the first time to an incident that occurred some 60 years ago a team of Greek experts flew to London late last year. Not surprisingly, they found evidence of “irreparable damage”.

If this was not enough to raise questions and eyebrows, it next leaked out that the museum, from time to time, hosted VIP affairs where the invitees were wined and dined surrounded by the marbles and how some swanned about the exhibition room attired in modern day “togas”.

Predictably, a Greek chorus in Athens shouted out, “Shame!” and “Scandalous!” to register their absolute disapproval.

Next, to smooth things over, the museum organised a symposium of academics and experts, some 200 in all including some Greeks. But, when lunch was served next to the 2,500 year old classical treasures, many concluded that the British were being intentionally obtuse and bolted out of the door indignant and angry.

Thought by some to be a conciliator, US President Bill Clinton reportedly told Papazoe during his recent visit to Athens “… If it were I, I would give them back immediately.” Clinton, also allegedly offered to raise the matter with his British counterpart and personal friend, Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Seemingly taking a dim view of Clinton’s initiative, Blair’s office has “categorically” ruled out the return of the marbles — 2004 Olympics, or no 2004 Olympics. “There is no change at all on the Elgin Marbles,” said a spokesman. “There are no plans to return the sculptures to Greece!”

Nevertheless, US Congressman Don Payne plans to introduce a “Parthenon Marbles Reunification Act” which will call for the return of the marbles within four years so that when the Olympic games return to their home, people will also be able to view the Parthenon marbles.

He said Clinton recognises the importance of the Parthenon to the cultural heritage of the US and to the international community as a symbol of democracy.

Resorting to language more reminiscent of imperial England than of the UK of today, curator of Greek antiquities Ian Jenkins charged that in Athens today, two of the finest sculptures “still rot on the Parthenon as we speak.”

Michael Daley, another British expert, claims that Elgin had rescued the marbles. British Prince Charles has reportedly told ex- Greek King Constantine that the marbles should be returned. And, so goes the controversy – the sound and fury over ancient miracles carved in stone!

CULTURE-GREECE: Return of artifacts debated

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Wes Jonasson

ATHENS, Feb 3 2000 (IPS) - Standing atop Lycabettus hill in the centre of Athens, the capital of Greece, looking down on the breathtaking Acropolis bathed in golden sunlight is a certainly a wondrous sight.
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