One day, the British government will Return the Parthenon Marble To Athens. The only question is: who will receive the eternal honor and gratitude of Greece?
The obvious candidate must be Boris Johnson. In 1986, classical scholars invited the Greek Minister of Culture Melina Mercouri (Melina Mercouri) Lecture at Oxford University, Promised to help her restore the glory of the Parthenon. This week, however, this became Johnson’s Don Juan promise-what it meant at the time. Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (Kyriakos Mitsotakis), who visited London earlier this week, Challenge him “Thinking about issues from the perspective of global Britannia” and launching “the wonderful coup of public diplomacy.” Johnson pretended that the problem was decided by the British Museum and had nothing to do with him.
Anyone who has seen the other half of the Parthenon frieze now on display at the magnificent Acropolis Museum in Athens will agree that this greatest European treasure should not be divided and divided between Athens and London. It belongs to the place where it was created, shining in the light of Greece, and arranged within the sight of its original temple. Half of it shouldn’t be sitting in the gloomy Bloomsbury Mausoleum, cold and out of context.
The Marble Legend of the Parthenon has recently been caught up in a broader debate about cultural identity and restoration. The British Museum has long argued strongly that the global artifacts it has accumulated over the past two centuries in the British Empire delight and educate visitors to London.The marbles were not looted, but were Cut from the Acropolis Between 1801 and 1805, Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, carried out this project with the permission of the Turks, the conqueror of Greece at the time. No one asked the Greeks, but otherwise it was legal.
The British Museum is now protesting what it has, and it is carefully preserved.Yes, it did almost destroy the marbles, when Clean them with a wire brush In 1938, but at least they are safe, free of war and pollution. The museum says that the whole world can go to London to see them, instead of traveling long distances to the Balkan capital; we don’t want to open the floodgates for every tin pot regime that seeks to raid London basements to find ancestral objects to enhance its cultural image. The director of the museum likes the worst.
However, the world is still moving forward. Culture aspires to their homeland, environment and identity. Museums in Africa and Asia are improving. They are seeking to rediscover and explain their ancient narratives. Of course, we should respect rather than hinder this desire. There may be no rules for returning museum items, but interpersonal interaction requires courtesy, generosity, and common sense.
To be fair, Western museums are responding.Paris is Return looted cultural relics Southeast Asia and Senegal.Benin Bronze Has been returned From Cambridge, Aberdeen, Germany and France to Nigeria. The British Museum returned the royal jewelry to Ceylon in the 1930s. Traveled to Myanmar in 1964It even returned part of the beard of the Sphinx to Egypt. In order to circumvent regulations prohibiting “exit”, these measures are often referred to as “permanent loans.”
In 1941, during the Second World War, the British Foreign Office Actively consider The return of the Parthenon marble as a support for Greek nationalism and when the war will end. The British Museum occasionally considers lending them to Athens for exhibitions, but does not believe that the Greeks will return them. It will not be moved by the luxury items provided by Greece in return, such as Agamemnon’s golden mask.
This debate further transformed Copy development. Computerized 3D printing and etching, pioneered in Italy and the Oxford Institute of Digital Archaeology, can now reproduce ancient buildings and statues with microscopic precision, even using primitive stones.There are plans to “reprint” the Temple of Bar in Palmyra, which was destroyed by the Islamic State in 2015, and Copy the monument Disastrous defeats in Mosul and Nimrud.
this Parthenon Marble They can now be copied as indistinguishable from the original, even if arrogant art critics can treat them as fakes and “different things.” This raises the question, which museum, London or Athens, should get the “original”-is this really important? We can appreciate the second casting of Rodin statue or the fourth state of Rembrandt etching like the first time. who cares?
There is only one answer to this: the Greeks do care. The lost Parthenon frieze in its pristine state reminds people that the country was humiliated by Turks and an English nobleman.They think these stones are theirs, like Scones It belongs to Scotland. If Emperor Claudius decides to ship Stonehenge back to Rome, Stonehenge will “belong” to every Englishman. If Londoners want to experience the beauty of Greek carving, they can: technology can be copied for them, just as they are now copying famous statues all over Europe. But let the stone come back.
This issue, which is important to the Greeks but not important to the British, can be resolved immediately and in good faith.It was UNESCO who requested such negotiations on marble in September, and Rejected by the UK. If it needs a “permanent loan” or parliamentary bill, then go ahead. If you need money, raise it. Johnson was weak in his request to deceive Athens because he was not within his jurisdiction. The museum is a national institution. He didn’t keep his promise and do the right thing, but turned around again and was frightened.
