The Greek Art Museum In The Parthenon

The country of Greece has opened a state of the art museum to house the Parthenon Sculptures, just steps away from their original home on the Acropolis Hill. However, only half of these important sculptures, inscriptions and architectural columns have been placed within the museum. Due to a series of unfortunate events including an explosion in the 1600's, the sculpture and marble structures sat in disrepair for over 200 years. In 1816, an English gentleman named Lord Elgin purchased them from the ruling Ottoman Empire and brought them back to London where they have been on display in the British Museum. Although saving them from further harm and ruin in the 1800s and 1900's, Greece is now ready to take them back, embracing their all important ancient identity.

Antonis Samaras, the Greek Culture Minister, said this in 2009; “Everyone around the world who believes in the values and ideas that emerged on the slopes of the Acropolis(should)... join our quest to bring the missing Parthenon marbles home.” Speaking in English, he said their “abduction” and “enforced exile” was an injustice to the Greek people. Another Greek Culture Minister from 2002, Evangelos Venizelos emphasizes the sculptures and building as a whole: "The sculptures from the Parthenon are not a single item... ...but part of a single monument, the Parthenon. The Parthenon is a building. The marbles are part of this existing building. For me the bottom line is not a legal one or the problem of ownership of the marbles but the fact of the return, the fact of the restitution of the integrity, the unity of the monument.” (Godwin 2013).

Thanks to the efforts of the Greek people and their government, the New Acropolis Museum has become an ideal home, tailor made to ta...

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...rther were the Parthenon Marbles to be reunified with the museum. (Godwin 2013).

And lastly, one argument for keeping the marbles in London, the return of such cultural and historical artifacts to their country of origin would 'open the floodgates', The fear that museums across Europe and North America would be emptied as objects returned is unwarranted. Only collections that were acquired illegally, by force or victimization of these other cultures would be involved. There are agreed upon codes and rules such as the 1970 UNESCO Convention that governs and organizes these types of disputes. Thanks to organizations like UNESCO, the return of cultural objects to their countries of origin is slowly but surely taking place. The British have an obligation, not to Greece but to the cultural heritage of the whole world, to restore its symbol, the Parthenon.(Godwin 2013).