Friday, June 26, 2009

The Elgin Marbles

















Notice anything missing? The facade below the top is what is in the British Museum in London. The Economist argues that the Brits will "loan" them back to the Greeks to put on display in their new museum, or loan just one little piece. How English of them.

Did they loan India back to the Indians, perhaps Pakistan, most of Africa, and yes how about that spat we had here in the US a couple of centuries ago.

The Elgin theft should be returned in toto with an apology. When you take the teeth out of a defeated warrior as they lie wounded upon the ground, you may not expect them to arise, but these are the Greeks my British friends, they have arisen for three thousand years again and again. Salamis saved the very basis of civilization, and for that we owe them a great debt. Thus the Brits should return their ill gotten gains promptly to where they belong. Besides having seen them in the stuffy British museum one does not come away with the glory of Greece. Seeing the Parthenon at night, lit upon the hill, white against the night sky, a sight to behold. The stones must be returned.