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Historical and political facts
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Beyond claims of ownership, there is one truth: the Parthenon Sculptures are part of the Parthenon. They belong to the Acropolis in Athens, as the place of their original geographical, historical and archaeological context. The Parthenon Sculptures, and other sculptures of the Athenian Acropolis, like one of the six Caryatids from the Erectheion, were removed in 1801 by Elgin without explicit permission from the British government or the Turkish sultan (Korka, 2010). This is what we would call seizure today. It is also a fact that the Sculptures were taken from the Acropolis without the consent of any representative of the Greek nation, as Athens was under Ottoman occupation at the time of their removal. The Parthenon was designed, created and defended by the Greeks in the ancient world. Who would imagine that 2,500 years later the Greeks would have their beautiful sculptures taken away by fellow Europeans?
Facts: References Hellenic Ministry of Culture (2007). The restitution of the Parthenon marbles: The review of the seizure. Athens: Hellenic Ministry of Culture. Retrieved from http://odysseus.culture.gr/a/1/12/ea125.html Korka, E. (2010). A CONVERSATION WITH ELENA KORKA - THE PILLAGING OF THE PARTHENON MARBLES BY ELGIN. In C. Koutsadelis (Ed.), DIALOGUES ON THE ACROPOLIS: Scholars and experts talk on the history, restoration and the Acropolis Museum. (English Ed., pp. 278-298). Athens: SKAI BOOKS. |