RETURN THE PARTHENON MARBLES TO GREECE! SHAME ON YOU BRITAIN! bringthemback.org

"The request for the restitution of the Parthenon Marbles is not made by the Greek government in the name of the Greek nation or of Greek history. It is made in the name of the cultural heritage of the world and with the voice of the mutilated monument itself, that cries out for its marbles to be returned."
Evangelos Venizelos, Greek Minister of Culture

The Parthenon Marbles, are a collection of classical Greek marble sculptures, inscriptions and architectural members that originally belonged to the Parthenon and other buildings on the Acropolis of Athens. Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1799-1803, had obtained a controversial permission from the Ottoman authorities to remove pieces from the Acropolis. From 1801 to 1812 Elgin's agents removed about half of the surviving sculptures of the Parthenon, as well as architectural members and sculpture from the Propylaea and Erechtheum. The Marbles were transported by sea to Britain. In Britain, Elgin was criticized for his actions, labeled by some as vandalism, and some contemporaries described him as a looter. However, following a public debate in Parliament and subsequent exoneration of Elgin's actions, the marbles were purchased by the British Government in 1816 and placed on display in the British Museum, where they stand now on view in the purpose-built Duveen Gallery. The legality of the removal has been questioned and the debate continues as to whether the Marbles should remain in the British Museum or be returned to Athens.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthenon_marbles
Music: Vangelis Papathanassiou - Chariots of Fire

You need to get the facts straight. There is no such thing as "the Elgin marbles". That man was nothing but a looter and a disgrace for Great Britain!
The PARTHENON MARBLES belong to Greece - where they were born! It is absurd for the British to claim the Marbles as their own.
Dorothy King's book on the Elgin Marbles is pure nonsense. I'm sorry Dorothy - they do NOT belong to Britain! PERIOD.

http://www.bringthemback.org/
http://www.parthenonuk.com/petition.php

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• parthenon marbles
• athens
• acropolis
• elgin
• british
• museum
• greek sculptures
• history
• greece
• bringthemback

[sassylassiecassie]

Anybody else find the irony, extemely funny irony, they use a song that was the soundtrack to a movie about English Olympic runners, Chariots of Fire!

[Jules7892]

@SirGeorge8600 But the White-Sculptured GREEK Marble belongs to Democracy Athens,GREECE.The White-Marbles Statues were Stolen by England & MUST be returned back to Athens,GREECE Parthenons,Acropolis &New GREEK-GREECE DEMOCRACY-HELLAS Museums.The White-Marbled Greek-Statues represents the BEST-Most Morale Democracy GREECE Civilization that taught the Ancient SCIENCES &MATHEMATICS &SUPREME GREECE HELLAS Democracies Un-Veiled in Warmer Temperatures,DEMOCRACYby the PEOPLE for thePEOPLE Participants!

[MrAntonios17]

@MrJm323 but as i told you, the majority of the british people is on our side so it won't be long before they return to their mother, the Acropolis!! whoever wants to remain in History, let them make a history of their own and not others'!!

and the british people, behaving like this will remain in history as a great nation!! the british museum though, will remain as the house of thieves!!!

[MrAntonios17]

@MrJm323 so, when something is stolen we can't talk about morality! and don't base your argument on modern greeks, i know we suck and i also have issues with my people, but what that scottish pig did, along with the turks, was unfair and a crime against humanity!! The Parthenon was built by Greeks so it belongs to Greeks and i really don't like these new invented terms of globalisation: it belongs to everyone!! no, it belongs to us and you will always admire it as something ours!!

[MrAntonios17]

@MrJm323 you are referring to the marbles as if they are just stones!! "sell the marbles to those.."!! sell? these marbles are our souls materialised!! these marbles are our past because the Parthenon is the absolute represenation of harmony and respect to God! it's not just a statue, it's a whole piece of art and as such must be admired! as a whole, one, undivided! ! the claim is not based on ethnicity!! the marbles were stolen, as most of the artifacts in the british museum!!

[MrJm323]

@MrAntonios17 I notice you really didn't answer any of my questions (rhetorical they may be).

What I object to is the fact that Greeks are making a moral claim to these artifacts based on their ETHNICITY. Morally and spiritually speaking, the legacy of classical Hellenic civilization belongs to anyone with a Western liberal education (paideia), and has nothing whatsoever to do with ethnicity or race.

If the modern Brits don't understand this, then they should SELL the marbles to those who do.

[MrAntonios17]

@MrJm323 umm....Greeks were under turkish occupation then!! and you should thank God that you weren't a greek at that time!!! my people suffered a lot!! Elgin is a thief and he has remained in history as such!! i admire the british people, one person doesn't represent the values of a whole nation and the fact that the majority of british wants the marbles to return home, says it all!!! and it's a proof that british aren't thieves!! because once they heard the true story they supported us!!

[ukusapillage]

shut up just retunr them it isnt yours end story brit

[MrJm323]

How are the modern Greeks any more worthy heirs of Western Civilization than the modern British? Wasn't the Parthenon being used as a fort by the Turks at the time Elgin liberated some of the sculpture work? Were the Greeks able to stop the Turks from using the Parthenon as a gun powder magazine at the time a Venetian shell hit it, causing most of the damage that structure and its sculptures have suffered? Did the Greeks of that time have as much appreciation of classical culture as the British?

[krissiegee]

If I had the power, ability and tools to steal these marbles back and place them back on the Parthenon I would! I just wish I could! :(