January 14, 2015
The Parthenon Marbles – transported or stolen?
Greece’s Education Ministry plans to stop using an art history book, which describes the Parthenon Marbles as having been transported to England, rather than giving more detail of how Lord Elgin removed them from the country, in circumstances of questionable legality, which are still disputed today.
It appears that in large part, the reason for making this decision now, is due to the fact that there is an upcoming general election in the country, and that the wording in this book was recently drawn to public attention by a politician from the main opposition party.
Parthenon Marbles in British Museum
From:
Kathimerini (English Edition)
Wednesday Jan 14, 2015
Education Ministry to scrap schoolbook with ‘monstrous’ Marbles referenceGreece’s Education Ministry plans to scrap an art history schoolbook which was recently criticized of misrepresenting the history of the the 5th-century B.C. Parthenon Marbles, now housed in the British Museum.
Education Minister Andreas Loverdos said the book with the “monstrous reference” would no longer be used at schools as of next year, while teachers across the country had received instructions on how to correctly present the subject.
The book, which was published in 2003, only mentions that the treasures, which comprised roughly half the 160-meter-long frieze on the Parthenon, were “transported” to Britain without explaining that they were taken away illegally.The sculptures were removed in 1801 by Scottish nobleman Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin and British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, who then sold them to the British government. Greece has campaigned to get them back.
The British Museum, which was given the Marbles “in perpetuity” has refused to return them on the grounds they were acquired by Elgin through a legitimate contract with the Ottoman Empire that then ruled Greece.
Controversy over the book arose following recent allegations by SYRIZA lawmaker Tasos Kourakis. “It is unthinkable that students are being taught that the Parthenon Marbles were ‘transported’. They were violently extracted from their monument,” Kourakis said.
- The Parthenon Marbles debate – who owns the sculptures? : January 22, 2015
- An exhibit about cultural property at USF Museums : April 23, 2012
- Liverpool gallery makes U-turn over Elgin Marbles exhibition : February 6, 2004
- Greece calls for return of disputed Parthenon Marbles from Britain : December 17, 2007
- Korea asks France for copies of looted books : July 6, 2005
- A one sided view of history – removing the iconoclasm from the video at the New Acropolis Museum : August 5, 2009
- Students protest over Parthenon marbles : February 1, 2007
- June opening date set for the New Acropolis Museum : February 14, 2009
aspals said,
01.14.15 at 2:07 pm
RT @elginism: Blog post: The Parthenon Marbles – transported or stolen? http://t.co/uhwyXL1GRR
Artantiq said,
01.14.15 at 2:07 pm
RT @elginism: Blog post: The Parthenon Marbles – transported or stolen? http://t.co/uhwyXL1GRR
urielper said,
01.14.15 at 2:11 pm
RT @elginism: Blog post: The Parthenon Marbles – transported or stolen? http://t.co/uhwyXL1GRR
urielper said,
01.14.15 at 2:13 pm
@elginism Stolen, of course! Nobody says anything about it. Greek treasures spread all over Europe.
sterlingvoth said,
01.14.15 at 2:18 pm
RT @elginism: Blog post: The Parthenon Marbles – transported or stolen? http://t.co/uhwyXL1GRR
shyduroff said,
01.14.15 at 2:23 pm
RT @elginism: Blog post: The Parthenon Marbles – transported or stolen? http://t.co/uhwyXL1GRR
Anonomouse1981 said,
01.14.15 at 2:45 pm
RT @elginism: Blog post: The Parthenon Marbles – transported or stolen? http://t.co/uhwyXL1GRR
AnnKatrinRurek said,
01.14.15 at 3:57 pm
RT @elginism: Blog post: The Parthenon Marbles – transported or stolen? http://t.co/uhwyXL1GRR
rogueclassicist said,
01.14.15 at 3:59 pm
The Parthenon Marbles – transported or stolen? http://t.co/qkr26HpD8H
HelenaVictoriaD said,
01.14.15 at 5:04 pm
RT @elginism: Blog post: The Parthenon Marbles – transported or stolen? http://t.co/uhwyXL1GRR
BenSchClassics said,
01.14.15 at 5:33 pm
“@elginism: The Parthenon Marbles – transported or stolen? http://t.co/ubSIKBMDCq” Govt diktat on how to teach topic worse than ambiguity?
benendenschool said,
01.14.15 at 5:42 pm
RT @BenSchClassics: “@elginism: The Parthenon Marbles – transported or stolen? http://t.co/ubSIKBMDCq” Govt diktat on how to teach topic w…
ste_trombetti said,
01.14.15 at 7:15 pm
RT @elginism: Blog post: The Parthenon Marbles – transported or stolen? http://t.co/uhwyXL1GRR
WilliamMoulton2 said,
01.14.15 at 9:09 pm
@BenSchClassics @elginism How about “rescued”?
BenSchClassics said,
01.14.15 at 9:19 pm
@WilliamMoulton2 @elginism careful now. And seriously, there’s as much in Athens as in London so not everything left behind got smashed.
BenendenSeniors said,
01.15.15 at 7:33 am
RT @BenSchClassics: “@elginism: The Parthenon Marbles – transported or stolen? http://t.co/ubSIKBMDCq” Govt diktat on how to teach topic w…
dr.kwame opoku said,
01.17.15 at 8:03 am
What about stolen and transported? Seriously,children should be given sufficient information to understand the two sides of the history of the removal and translocation of the Parthenon Marbles. They should also be informed about the age and political context in which such monstrous actvities involving the displacement of huge artefacts were possible. A good textbook should also mention that such elginistic activities were part of the imperialistic imposition of British,German,French,Italian and Portuguees rule in many parts of the world. Efforts to recover these artefacts should also be explained.
Kwame.