Hellenic line in the sand
Greece must refuse to provide the sacred Olympic flame for the next Olympiad in London if the Parthenon marbles are not returned.
If the British government wishes to continue being stubbornly arrogant and childish on this issue then Greece should take its bat and flame and stay home in 2012.
The British can call the London Olympiad by some other name.
In addition to the British government returning the marbles to their rightful home, they must offer public apologies for three wrongs committed in relation to this matter.
Firstly, an apology for the initial theft of the Parthenon Marbles by Lord Elgin who was at the time acting as a British diplomat in the Ottoman Empire.
Secondly, an explicit apology for first buying and then holding on to stolen ancient Hellenic property for two centuries and parading them in an utterly disjointed and pseudo-Hellenic public gallery several thousand kilometers away from their home.
Finally an apology is needed to recognise the real and often forgotten crime in this whole saga which is the vandalising of majestic ancient Hellenic art works.
Lord Elgin had so much love for these marbles that he hacked and butchered them into discretely meaningless segments so that he could transport them back to the murky and cold climate of England where they were initially stored in his shed.
Enough is enough!
The Greek government and Greeks around the world must draw a line in the sand on this one.
Petros Rozakeas
Burwood East, 3151
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Comments
Atkenos, you ask “Where are those same [British] people when we call for the return of the most sacred items in all of Hellenism?” but the premise of your question fails the most rudimentary factual check. Since you asked, let me just mention three quick examples:
1. They formed the British Committee for the Reunification (formerly Restitution) of the Parthenon Marbles in 1983 and have since lobbied for the return of the sculptures to Greece and are working with The International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures.
2. They are making a well argued and reasoned case for the return of the sculptures with books such as “The Elgin marbles” by Christopher Hitchens, Robert Browning and Graham Binns.
3. The British public by their overwhelming majority support the return of the Parthenon sculptures as attested by gallops conducted recently and in the past in Britain.
The last thing Greece needs is to create the kind of international backlash by punishing the Olympic spirit which would be the effect of withholding the flame and would set the Greek cause decades behind. Lets not lose sight of the fact that it is the Trustees of the British Museum that need to be convinced or forced to act. Not the British people. They are already on the side of the Greeks.
I am not impresed, with respect, by anyone stating that we should not punish the British people. Where are those same people when we call for the return of the most sacred items in all of Hellenism? No, we must draw a line in the sand and I join calls to ban the Brits from having the Olympic flame unless they agree to a time table to return the marbles. Unless Hellas uses leverage, it will NOT win, and this IS leverage.
Greece may wait another 200 years to get the Parthenon marbles returned by the British.
I understand that Indigenous Australian people have been trying to have the remains of 100's of dead Aboriginals - mainly skulls - returned from England for a proper and respectful ceremonial burial without any luck.
The arrogance of British authorities to hold onto these ancient artifacts and numerous other items that were STOLEN is breath taking.
Although a refusal by Greece to provide the Olympic flame for the 2012 London Olympiad or to Boycott the games is an extreme act, it may well be the only option left to the Greek government. It would certainly produce a WORLD spotlight on the issue.
It would be a mistake to withhold the Olympic flame from London 2012. Why punish the British people, the world and the Olympic spirit for what is the fault of the British Museum? In fact the overwhelming majority of the British people are in favour of returning the Parthenon sculptures to Greece. Greece's ongoing moral and disciplined stance with the help of the fair-minded British people will put more pressure on the British Museum and the British government.