The Times has published some of the responses that it received in response to its piece on the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures.

From:
The Times

January 28, 2003

Return of the Elgin Marbles

With the 2004 Olympics approaching, is it time for Britain to settle this long-running dispute?
BRITAIN should return the Elgin Marbles to Greece. They form no part of our heritage and are rarely viewed by visitors to the British Museum. They should be reunited with their other halves in Athens.

David Brown, Colchester, Essex

Table talk

A SIMPLE solution struck me while reading Saturday’s article on the Elgin Marbles. Let the Greek and British powers that be sit around the table and trade pieces of sculpture. That way both countries would benefit, and visitors to the museums would be able to see the sculptures in a more complete form. I wonder if an agreement could be reached. Perhaps this would be asking too much of human nature.
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A new exhibition, titled Marbles Reunited aims to demonstrate how much is gained if the surviving Parthenon Sculptures are reunited in one place, rather than fragmented between different museums.

From:
BBC News

Monday, 27 January, 2003, 14:11 GMT
Science reunites Elgin Marbles

A virtual reality exhibition showing how the Elgin Marbles would look if they were reunited goes on display at the Houses of Parliament on Monday.

The latest technology is being used to simulate how the 5th Century BC sculptures will appear if they are reunited with the rest of the Parthenon Marbles in Athens.
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A new comic book aims to re-tell the story of the Parthenon Marbles in graphic format.

From:
The Times

January 25, 2003
Lord Elgin pilloried in comic frieze
By Dalya Alberge

A BRITISH-IRANIAN businessman has seen the funny side of the Elgin Marbles dispute, publishing an Asterix-style comic strip about the Briton who helped himself to the Parthenon sculptures.

Amir Sobati, 32, who moved to Athens two years ago to set up an internet company for the hotel industry, has written and published The Parthenon Marbles & Lord Elgin, the Earl’s life story from cradle to grave with 400 pictures.
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Greece is arranging an artefact swap with Italy, whereby they give Italy a fifth-century bronze Etruscan helmet, in exchange for a fragment of the Parthenon Sculptures.

From:
The Times

January 11, 2003
Grecian return puts Marbles in spotlight
From Richard Owen in Rome

GREECE is to return one of its greatest historical treasures to Italy in return for a small fragment of the Parthenon frieze.

The fifth-century bronze Etruscan helmet is one of two donated to the Temple of Zeus on Mount Olympus by Hieron, the “Tyrant of Syracuse” in Sicily. Hieron was giving thanks to the gods for his military victories over the Etruscans and Carthaginians.
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the British Museum has in the past, often made a point about how artefacts in their collection are looked after far better than they would have been in their original countries, such as Athens. stories of lost artefacts & damaged artefacts, along with secret repairs by staff, fail to inspire confidence in this worldview.

From:
The Times

December 22, 2002
Breakages and bungling at British Museum
Will Iredale and Jonathan Calvert

PRICELESS artefacts from ancient Greece and Rome are being mislaid, broken and poorly protected in the cash-strapped British Museum, a Sunday Times investigation has found.

Chaotic scenes at the museum — custodian of some of the world’s greatest antiquities — were witnessed by an undercover reporter posing as a work experience trainee.
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More coverage of the declaration on the importance of the Universal Museum – issued without the name of the British Museum included on it, but thought by many to have been masterminded by them. Many have been quick to notice the relevance of this declaration in trying to shore up the British Museums defences for their retention of the Elgin Marbles, against the powerful argument presented by the construction of the New Acropolis Museum in Athens.

From:
News Observer

Wednesday, December 11, 2002 3:26PM EST
World galleries back British Museum in dispute with Greece
By ROBERT BARR, ASSOCIATED PRESS

LONDON (AP) – Several of the world’s leading museums defended the British Museum’s right to keep ancient statues taken from the Parthenon 200 years ago, despite Greek demands for their return.

A letter signed by the directors of 18 museums, including the Louvre and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, said works acquired decades ago have become essential to the museums that house them. “Objects acquired in earlier times must be viewed in the light of different sensitivities and values, reflective of that earlier era,” the statement said.
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The planned loan by Italy to Greece of a small fragment of the Parthenon Frieze looks set to raise the profile of the campaign for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, Proving that it is perfectly possible for such artefacts to be returned on loan if the political will exists to do so.

From:
The Times

October 01, 2002
Fragment of Greek history to reignite row over Marbles
From Richard Owen in Rome

A FRAGMENT of the Parthenon frieze kept by an 18th-century British diplomat in Sicily is to be returned to Greece. It is a gesture that is certain to revive the dispute over Britain’s retention of the Elgin Marbles.

President Ciampi of Italy plans to hand over part of a statue of the goddess Peitho during a state visit to Greece next month in a move described by officials as a “gesture of friendship”.
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