The Controversy Of The Elgin Marbles

A team of lawyers in london had recommended taking legal action for the long disputed collection of artifacts but athens has opted for.

The controversy of the elgin marbles.

A public debate in parliament followed elgin s publication and parliament again exonerated elgin s actions eventually deciding to purchase the marbles for the british nation in 1816 by a vote of 82 30. These actions were controversial from the very beginning. In 1801 a british nobleman stripped the parthenon of many of its sculptures and took them to england. In the 19th century pollution seriously harmed the sculptures and the british museum s attempts to clean them using sandpaper chisels and acid also caused irreparable damage.

The elgin marbles are a source of controversy between modern britain and greece. The british defend their ownership of the marbles based on greece s lack of an adequate museum and the fact that they paid for the pieces mcguigan 2. The first serious discussion about returning the elgin marbles is said to have been initiated in an exchange of correspondence in a newspaper in 1925 with courtenay pollock arguing that the time. In many ways the marbles are emblematic of the development of modern ideas of national heritage and global display which argues that localized regions have the best claim over items produced there.

Lord byron and many others attacked elgin s actions in print. It s a collection of stone pieces rescued removed from the ruins of the ancient greek parthenon in the nineteenth century and now in demand to be sent back from the british museum to greece. Controversy over their acquisition by the british museum continues to this day. A select committee of parliament was established to examine the sculpture and the possibility of acquiring it for britain.

It is still doubtful whether lord elgin was ever truly granted permission to take the marbles. Even before all the sculptures soon known as the elgin marbles went on display in london lord byron attacked elgin in stinging verses. The elgin marbles have been controversial for over 200 years with the acropolis museum in athens which houses the remaining sculptures keeping a space empty for them amongst its current. The marbles have suffered considerable damage while in london.

Today much controversy surrounds the ownership elgin marbles both the british and greeks argue that each have legal and moral claim over the parliament s marble adornments.