Product Description

The Elgin Marbles, designed and executed by Phidias to adorn the Parthenon, are some of the most beautiful sculptures of ancient Greece. In 1801 Lord Elgin, then British ambassador to the Turkish government in Athens, had pieces of the frieze sawn off and removed to Britain, where they remain, igniting a storm of controversy which has continued to the present day. In the first full-length work on this fiercely debated issue, Christopher Hitchens recounts the history of these precious sculptures and forcefully makes the case for their return to Greece. Drawing out the artistic, moral, legal and political perspectives of the argument, Hitchens's eloquent prose makes The Elgin Marbles an invaluable contribution to one of the most important cultural controversies of our times.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #732913 in Books
• Published on: 1997-11-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 138 pages

About the Author
Christopher Hitchens lives in Washington and writes for Vanity Fair and The Nation. His previous books include Blood, Class and Nostalgia: Anglo-American Ironies, International Territory: the United Nations 1945-95 (with Adam Bartos) and For the Sake of Argument: Essays and Minority Reports, all from Verso. Robert Browning was Professor Emeritus in Classics at the University of London and the author of numerous books and articles on ancient Greece. Graham Binns has worked in the Arts Council and in the broadcasting and communications industries, during the course of which he became a Philhellene. In 1997 he succeeded Robert Browning as Chairman of the British Committee for the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles in 1997.

Customer Reviews

Archaeological loot and the Parthenon Marbles
Hitchens is definitely articulate as ever and I'm sure he is aware of the large number of people who visit the British Museum to see the PARTHENON MARBLES. But we are missing the point here. This a great book about pieces of art violently taken from their place: THE PARTHENON during the Ottoman occupation in Greece. Greeks were not asked,the sultan was. They were not stickers to be peeled off the building of the Parthenon. Giovanni Battista Lusieri, the artist who was appointed to oversee the removal of the artefacts later admitted that he had to be 'a little barbarous' with them (Christofer Hitchens: `The Elgin Marbles: Should they be returned to Greece?', appendix 1). These marbles ARE NOT Elgin's. They are MISSING parts of the PARTHENON and this is where their place is. Let's not justify crimes of art, or 'archaeological loot' (N.Davies in 'Europe: a History', page 741), in the name of cultural, political or archaeological colonialism. If someone wants to see Stonehenge they should visit England but if someone wants to see Parthenon (and its marbles), Athens should be the place.

An excellent arguement.
This book outlines a great arguement by the author as to why he feels that the Elgin Marbles (ie The marble statues and carvings that adorned the Parthenon in ancient Athens) should be returned to Greece.

Hitchens sets out his stall from the outset as to why he feels that Elgin's actions were morally wrong. He then goes on to counter every argument laid forth by The British Museum over the years.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is thinking of visiting or has recently visited The British Museum in London.

Don't Lose Your Marbles
Hitchens is articulate as ever, but you should know (even if he doesn't) that each year the number of people who visit the British Museum AND SEE THE ELGIN MARBLES THERE is far greater than the number of people who visit any part of the whole city of Athens for any reason. That is why the collections of the British Museum, with its great remit to educate and enlighten a vast public free of charge, is a far greater cultural artefact than the Parthenon itself, with or without the Marbles enclosed in a shiny new glass box a mile away. Cast off your post-colonial guilt - keep the Marbles where the most people can see them, and within a priceless context of ancient Greek artefacts and scholarship. They can never be returned to the Parthenon itself so the 'in situ' argument is nonsense. And by the way, the building of the new, empty museum in Athens caused irreparable archaeological damage to the ancient city below. This was a political, not a cultural or archaeological, gesture.