I don’t see why the British Museum, the British government, the government of Greece, and the museum in Athens can’t come to an accommodation to share these wonderful, wonderful Elgin Marbles.
In an interview with the Greek newspaper Ta Nea on Monday, July 3, London Mayor Sadiq Khan seemed open to the possibility of offering split custody of the Parthenon frieze to Greece, encouraging to 'share' the marbles with Greece, moving them between the two countries.
At the heart of the dispute are the great frieze, the metopes and the sculptures that adorned the great temple of the Acropolis dedicated to Athena, which Greece claims ownership of but the British Museum retains in its collection since 1816. The marbles were brought back to the United Kingdom in 1802 or 1803, on Lord Elgin's decision and on his boat. Above all, the dispute lies in the legitimacy of the removal.
In 2021, Boris Johnson told the same Greek newspaper that the marbles had been legally acquired by Lord Elgin 'in accordance with the laws in force at the time.' But while the United Kingdom maintains that Lord Elgin, who was ambassador to Greece at the time, was in compliance with the law – having received the approval of the Ottoman powers that ruled the Hellenic peninsula at the time – Greece has for decades refuted the authenticity of certain documents or their official nature. Some documents are said to have been signed by people who did not have the legal authority to hand over the marbles to Lord Elgin. For Athens, the removal was theft.
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The Chairman of the British Museum, George Osborne, also envisaged the possibility of an agreement on an eventual shared custody of the marbles, but the institution is not prepared to change its mind. The outright repatriation of the Greek marbles is prohibited, as they are now protected by British law. The Prime Minister himself, Rishi Sunak, has insisted that there are 'no plans' to change the law to allow the marbles to be moved.
Neither the museum's chairman nor the Prime Minister imagines that the museum's collection can be dismantled. Only partnerships can be envisaged, which would allow them to be admired by all.
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At the beginning of the year, there had already been numerous discussions around this issue and the two governments were slowly beginning to agree on the possibility of sharing, but Greece has always publicly stated that it refuses to recognize the legitimacy of the United Kingdom, and that it would categorically refuse to pay to recover what belongs to the country, rejecting any agreement that included the word 'loan'.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has promised to repatriate the marbles if he is re-elected for a second term. He has been in government since June 26, 2023, and the coming years could be decisive for the future of the British Museum's collection and for the Parthenon marbles.
