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The Parthenon had survived for two millennia, and it was destroyed in an incredible act of vandalism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon#Destruction https
by fmajid 4y ago
The Parthenon had survived for two millennia, and it was destroyed in an incredible act of vandalism:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon#Destruction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon#Destruction
I don't know which is more guilty, the Turks who used it as an ammunition dump or the Venetian who targeted it with mortars. In comparison, the vandalism and larceny of Lord Elgin is small potatoes. The marbles definitely ought to be returned to Greece, and replicas installed in-situ as they are now too fragile to withstand Athens' current pollution.
- mjbeswick 4y agoI would agree with returning them more if the parthenon was going to restored and the marbles returned to the original positions; however it seems pointless to transport them from one The British Museum to the Acropolis Museum which has 1/4 of the visitors.
- mongol 4y agoThose visitors pay entrance fee to another museum, a Greek one rather than a British one as it happens.
- greeneggs 4y agoAll the more reason to leave them be. Free admission at the British Museum, versus €10 at the Acropolis Museum.
- bee_rider 4y agoThese are stolen good, really it should only be the rightful owners' opinion that matters.
- altacc 4y agoThe pollution isn't an issue as 1) they would be kept in the Acropolis Museum, in a controlled environment and 2) the British Museum "cleaned" their marbles and removed their protective layer that means even pollution free normal weather would quickly destroy them.
- fmajid 4y agoI meant the originals should be in the Acropolis museum and replicas installed on the Acropolis itself, and in the British Museum if they want to.
- a2tech 4y agoIt cracks me up but there's a funny little sign in the British Museum near the marbles that addresses the controversy over returning the marbles that basically says 'as soon as Greece gets its shit together and proves they can care adequately for their artifacts we'll gladly return them'. Its very patronizing and VERY British.
- FridayoLeary 4y agoIt reminds me of a joke; Why are the pyramids in Egypt? Because they were too heavy to carry to the British Museum.
- fmajid 4y agoThere are more Egyptian obelisks outside Egypt (and Italy alone has almost as many as Egypt).
- twmiller 4y agoIt's also a bunch of horseshit, because the Acropolis museum in Athens is absolutely phenomenal and clearly shows that Greece is capable of caring for them adequately.
- jfengel 4y agoIndeed. That was not the case 20 years ago (when I first saw those pamphlets on "Why we're not giving these back"), but today the Acropolis Museum is absolutely stunning. It sits at the base of the hill, and the top floor is oriented the same as the Parthenon. It contains all of the meropes and other art, laid out as if you were able to walk right up to it in its original site. It's an extraordinary exhibit, and your appreciation of the Acropolis will be vastly enhanced by visiting. Some pieces are original; others are reproductions of pieces held elsewhere. (It's not just the British Museum, but also the Louvre and Berlin Museum.) Those museums should do a 1:1 swap: the reproductions for the originals. The originals should all go back to where they belong. I do actually respect the British Museum as a museum of British Empire, which was a noteworthy historical event in itself. The theft of artifacts is itself history at this point. But they have plenty of pieces to display that, which interfere less with Greece's need to recover from colonization -- including connecting to its own great past.