THE ELGIN MARBLES: NATIONAL TREASURES OR ILL-GOTTEN GAINS? - PART ONE
THE ELGIN MARBLES: NATIONAL TREASURES OR ILL-GOTTEN GAINS? PART ONE: THE ELGIN MARBLES BEFORE LORD ELGIN This article is an extended version of a talk I gave on 1 September 2021 at the Atkinson Museum , Southport , as part of their Ancient Worlds lecture series The idea for this article (and the talk on which it was originally based) developed out of the work on Greek architectural sculpture which I used to do with my A-level Classical Civilisation students. Every year we would spend weeks studying the sculptures from the Parthenon and other buildings on the Athenian Acropolis (the so-called ‘Elgin Marbles’), culminating in a visit to see these sculptures in the British Museum . This inevitably drew us into the question of how these sculptures had ended up in the British Museum , and whether they should stay there or be returned to Greece . East pediment of the Parthenon (Photo Credit: Trustees of the British Museum) The debate over the Elgin Marbles is very emotive