The Return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece

The Return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece

Aaron Campbell

4594529

CLAS1P91

November 9, 2012

Return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece

One of the most interesting predicaments known to the cultural and artistic world today has been the acquisition of the Elgin Marbles from Athens by Thomas Bruce, the seventh Earl of Elgin, during the early 19th century. The way that these marbles were acquired by Elgin, the impact that this has on the national and cultural pride of the Greeks and the preservation of the marbles in Britain is the centre of attention in this argument. The marbles have been said to be the most sacred and important monuments in Greek history and therefore need to be replaced back to Greece so they can be a part of their cultural and national identity once again.

The legal right that Elgin had to excavate the marbles from the Parthenon have always been in question since their removal from Greece in 1816. Elgin did receive a firman from the Ottoman Empire and according to him this authorized the removal of the marbles. The document stated that “[I]t is incumbent on us to provide that they meet no opposition in … [and here follows a long list of activities, from walking through to copying, drawing, molding, and measuring] and that no one meddle with their scaffolding or implements nor hinder them from taking away any pieces of stone with inscriptions and figures.” (Fitz Gibbon, 2005). Nowhere in this document did it state that Elgin would be granted permission to remove these artifacts and sell them to Britain, it only stated that he was allowed to measure, mold, draw, or copy the marbles. So when local authorities had been aware that Elgin was removing the marbles from the Parthenon, why did they not do anything to stop him? The answer is simple; Elgin had used intimidation and bribery to get the Ottoman officials to turn a blind eye to the removal and shipment of the marbles to Britain (Rudenstine, 2000). In my opinion it was not in the best...