PARTHENON MARBLES WEB SCRIPT
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: A highlight of London’s British Museum is one of its earliest
acquisitions, the Parthenon Marbles. These sculptures once decorated the great
5th century BCE temple on the Acropolis in Greece. Considered among the great
achievements of the classical world, they depict mythical creatures, stories of
the gods along with average people.
HANNAH BOULTON: They are very significant and important masterpieces, really, of
the ancient Greek world.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: Hannah Boulton is the spokesperson for the British Museum. She
admits that how these classical works came to be in England is a sensitive
subject, one the museum takes some pains to explain.
HANNAH BOULTON: I think it, obviously, has always been a topic of debate ever
since the objects came to London and into the British Museum. It’s not a new
debate.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: The story starts in the early 1800s. The Parthenon had fallen to
ruin. Half the marbles were destroyed by neglect and war. Then, a British
ambassador, Lord Elgin, made an agreement with Ottoman authorities who were in
control of Athens at the time to remove some of statues and friezes. He took
about half of the remaining sculptures.
HANNAH BOULTON: And then he shipped that back to the UK. For a long time it
remained part of his personal collection so he put it on display and then he
made the decision to sell the collection to the nation. And the Parliament
chose to acquire it and then pass it on the British Museum. So we would
certainly say that Lord Elgin had performed a great service in terms of
rescuing some of these examples.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: But Greeks don’t see it that way. For decades now, they have
argued that the Ottomans were occupiers, so the deal with Elgin wasn’t valid,
and the marbles belong in Greece. Why does Greece want to have the Parthenon
Marbles back in Athens?
LYDIA KONIORDOU: It’s not just bringing them back to Athens or to Greece. That’s
where they were created. But this is not our claim. Our claim is to put back a
unique piece of art. To put it back together. Bring it back together.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: Lydia Koniordou was Greece’s Minister of
Culture from 2016 to 2018. We met her at the Acropolis where the Parthenon
temple stands overlooking Athens.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: So first it was Lord Elgin who removed 50 percent.
LYDIA KONIORDOU: Almost 50 percent.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: All of the marbles, she says, have now been removed from the
monument for protection from the elements. Then it was Greece that consciously
decided to remove the remaining.
LYDIA KONIORDOU: Yes, the scientists that were responsible decided to remove and
take them to the Acropolis Museum. It was nine years ago when the Acropolis
Museum was completed.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: In fact, the Acropolis Museum was built in part as a response to
the British Museum's claim that Greece did not have a proper place to display
the sculptures. The glass and steel structure has a dramatic view of the
Acropolis, so while you’re observing the art you can see the actual Parthenon.
The third floor is set up just like the Parthenon, with the same proportions.
These friezes, from the west side of the temple, are nearly all original. On
the other three sides, there are some originals but also a lot of gaps, as well
as white plaster copies of the friezes and statues now in Britain.
DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS: We believe that one day we could replace the copies with the originals
to show all this unique art in its grandeur. Every block has two or three
figures and here is only one.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: Dimitrios Pandermalis is the Director of the
Acropolis Museum where the story of the missing marbles differs widely from
that of the British Museum. Presentations for visitors portray Lord Elgin
critically. One film shows the marbles flying off the Parthenon and calls it
the uncontrollable plundering of the Acropolis. You have these videos that
actually show how the pieces were removed. Another film depicts how one of the
marbles was crudely split by Elgin’s workmen.
DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS: He damaged the art pieces, yes.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: He did damage some of these pieces.
DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS: Of course, it was to be expected.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: The British Museum disputes the claim Elgin damaged the
sculptures. It also sees it as a plus that half the collection is in Britain
and half in Greece.
HANNAH BOULTON: I think the situation we find ourselves in now we feel is quite
beneficial. It ensures that examples of the wonderful sculptures from the
Parthenon can be seen by a world audience here at the British Museum and in a
world context in terms of being able to compare with Egypt and Rome and so on
and so forth. But we feel the two narratives we are able to tell with the
objects being in two different places is beneficial to everybody.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: But Pandermalis says rather than being
in two places the sculptures should be reunified, literally. He showed us
examples around the museum, including one that is almost complete save for one
thing.
DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS: So this sculpture is original except the right foot.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: And this. The chest of the god Poseidon. So the marble portion in
the center where we can see clearly defined the abdomen, that’s original but
the surrounding portion in plaster, the shoulders, that’s in London. So the
piece has been completely split in half.
DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS: Yes.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: And perhaps most dramatic, this frieze. So the darker stone is the
original and the white plaster that represents what’s in the British Museum.
DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS: Yes. Exactly.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: And here it is in the British Museum. The missing marble head and
chest floating in a display space.
LYDIA KONIORDOU: It just doesn’t make sense. It’s like cutting, for instance, the
Last Supper of Da Vinci and taking one apostle to one museum and another
apostle to another museum. We feel also it’s a symbolic act today to bring back
this emblem of our world. To put it back together.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: If you bring back this emblem, aren’t there untold other emblems
that need to be brought back. Is this a slippery slope?
LYDIA KONIORDOU: We do not claim, as Greek state, we do not claim other treasures.
We feel that this is unique. This claim will never be abandoned by this country
because we feel this is our duty.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: As for visitors to the Acropolis museum. How do you feel about the
fact that half the collection is in the British Museum?
MAN: Not good.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: The Roscoe family is from Ohio. What do you guys think?
JIM ROSCOE: I think it would be nice to have them in one spot where they
originated.
EMMA ROSCOE: You’re coming here to see the history of it so it would be nice
to see the complete history rather than replicas.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: You’ve seen them in the British Museum. So what do you think about
the fact that the collection is kind of split.
TIM: It’s sad. When you see this. I think this museum is a phenomenal
place to display them. It’s beautiful and they way it’s been built almost
waiting to have them back. It’s interesting.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: As recently as May the Greek President, Prokopios
Pavlopoulos, told Prince Charles that he hoped the
Marbles would be returned. And the British opposition Labor leader Jeremy
Corbyn has said he too is in favor of returning the Marbles to Greece. But the
British Museum’s position is the marbles in its collection are legally theirs.
They would, however, consider a loan. After all, the British Museum regularly
loans pieces from its collection to other museums around the world.
HANNAH BOULTON: I think we would certainly see there being a great benefit in
extending that lending and trying to find ways to collaborate with colleagues,
not just in Greece but elsewhere in the world to share the Parthenon sculptures
that we have in our collection.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: But sharing the sculptures is not what the ancient Greeks who
created them would have wanted claims Pandermalis.
DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS: They would be very angry.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: The ancient Greeks would be very angry?
DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS: Yes
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: Why?
DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS: Because they were crazy for perfection. It was a perfection but
today it is not.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: As for whether he will ever see all the remaining Parthenon
Marbles together under this roof.
DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS: I’m sure.
CHRISTOPHER LIVESAY: You’ re sure that you will see them.
DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS: But I don’t know when.
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TIMECODE |
LOWER
THIRD |
1 |
0:36 |
HANNAH BOULTON BRITISH MUSEUM SPOKESPERSON |
2 |
3:08 |
DIMITRIOS PANDERMALIS THE ACROPOLIS MUSEUM |
3 |
4:11 |
HANNAH BOULTON BRITISH MUSEUM SPOKESPERSON |
4 |
5:30 |
LYDIA KONIORDOU FORMER GREEK MINISTER OF CULTURE |