Long ago there was a war between Venice and the Ottomans. Near the war grounds the
Ottomans used a sacred place to store gunpower. It was a temple dedicated to the Greek
goddess Athena (Sanchez, 2017, para. 3). Inside the temple were many old saying and original
sculptural decorations that were created by the great Athenian sculptor Phidias (Sanchez, 2017,
para. 2). One day the Venetians struck the building and destroyed the roof only leaving the
pillars. After many years had pass, travelers and collectors began collecting items from the
Parthenon in the present of the Ottoman authorities (Sanchez, 2017, para. 6). July 6, 1801, Lord
Elgin received authorization to survey, take cast and remove whatever piece of interest he
wanted or at least this is how it was interpreted (Sanchez, 2017, para. 8). According to Sanchez,
“the huge collection of marbles was packed up into about two hundred boxes, which were then
loaded onto wagons and transported to the port of Piraeus to await their passage to England”
(Sanchez, 2017, para. 9). Elgin and his crew did run into a lot of problems when trying to get
the sculptures back to London. When Elgin ran into money trouble after a divorce, he began to
put pressure on the British to buy the sculptures. Once the sculptures were brought, they were
moved to the Elgin Room in the British Museum in 1832, for educational purposes (Sanchez,
2017, para.14). Once the Greek regained independence they began to ask for the marbles back.
They actually have a museum waiting with space for the marbles return. The British so far
refused to return them (Sanchez, 2017, para.15).
I totally understand the controversy here and this is a tough case. I think that I will
have to go with the British, this is because Elgin gained those pieces with truth. He asked and
he received. My first reason for going with the British is because there is no way he could
have attained those large pieces without a fight from the Greek if they really wanted to keep
them. Elgin paid big money to have them shipped out from its original place. My second
reason for going with the British it that I think the Greek were caught at a very vulnerable
moment and in the end when it was too late, they realized how important and valuable the
pieces were to their heritage. The same goes for today. For example, I give away a piece of
furniture at a yard sale because I’m done, tired and ready to clean up the place. Later on, my
husband gets on me about how valuable that piece was and its been in the family for years. I
call the person up and they refuse, it’s now in their possession and they have every right to sell
it back to me at a higher price if they choose or even not give it back at all. Its my lost and I
will have to learn from it.
(500)
References
Sanchez, J. (2017). How the Parthenon Lost Its Marbles. National Geographic History Magazine.
Retrieved from
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/archaeology-and-history/magazine/2017/03-04/
parthenon-sculptures-british-museum-controversy/
