The Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni, is right to point out that Rishi Sunak’s recent behaviour towards the Prime Minister of Greece was in fact a “gift” to Greece.
Of course, she is referring to the worldwide publicity given to the Greek demand for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures to their birthplace. More important, however, was and remains the positive reaction for Greece within Britain.
A yougov poll shows that 66% of Britons believe that the British Prime Minister’s decision not to meet with Mitsotakis was a mistake.
On the controversial question of the return of the Parthenon Sculptures to Greece, 49% think they should be returned to Greece, while just 15% support keeping them in Britain.
The British Commission for the Return of the Parthenon Sculptures (BCRPM) recently published the findings of a series of requests under the Freedom of Information Act, of which we keep the following:
– The British Museum has 108.184 Greek artifacts
– Only 6,493 of these objects are on display.
If the British consented to the union of the most emblematic pieces, such as the statues of the Acropolis in Athens, with the rest of the sculptural composition, they would have to give back the rest of the stolen pieces, not only of Greek antiquity, but of the entire world cultural production.
One wonders, then, if the British Museum would exist without the millions of exhibits from different countries around the world.
The British Museum is talking about ‘lending’ these sculptures to Greece and exchanging them for others that Greece will lend to it. Mrs Mendoni insists, and rightly so, that Greece is not negotiating in any way the loan of the marbles, sticking to the long-standing Greek position that the sculptures belong to Greece and have been stolen by Lord Elgin. “We are in no way talking about a loan. We can lend.”
So we thank Mr. Sunak but we should not, under any circumstances, expect his “mistake” to bring about the desired results on its own.
Hellenism and philhellenism everywhere should seize the opportunity and run in every direction. This includes the expatriates of Australia.
It is worth noting that the first person to indirectly raise the issue of the return of the Parthenon Marbles to their birthplace was Lord Byron, who after his trip to Athens in 1809 launched a scathing indictment of the antiquities thief Lord Elgin in his poem “The Curse of Minerva”.
And last of all, amidst the gaping crew,
(Excerpt from the poem by Lord Byron: The Curse of Minerva)
Some calm spectator, as he takes his view,
In silent indignation mixed with grief,
Admires the plunder, but abhors the thief.
Oh, loathed in life, nor pardoned in the dust,
May Hate pursue his sacrilegious lust!
Linked with the fool that fired the Ephesian dome,
Shall vengeance follow far beyond the tomb,
And Eratostratus and Elgin shine,
In many a branding page and burning line;
Alike reserved for aye to stand accursed,
Perchance the second blacker than the first.
