Elgin Marbles Debate
For over 150 years the marbles of Greece have been placed in the British museum, they are recognized as the Elgin Marbles. The Elgin Marbles continue to be the main point of an ongoing debate that will basically determine the historical influence of an important culture. Some of the sculptures that were removed were the marble figures, metopes (sculptures in high relief) and friezes. To this day the Greek government has correctly requested the return of the Elgin Marbles a few times while the British government has frequently refuse any action. Greece is in pursuance of an agenda to pressure the British Parliament to pass a law to authorize the British Museum to return the collection to its original site at the Acropolis. All of this is being done through the direct lobbying efforts that have the support of UNESCO and the European Union. The Greek government is also acknowledging international channels to resolve the problem, especially the European Court of Justice. The Parthenon Marbles complete a particular case in which they form part of a distinctive monument for humanity and international public opinion that symbolizes civilization and democracy, but for the Greek people it indicates much more than that, for them, the Parthenon Marbles symbolizes our history and solidity of the Greek nation. The Athenian statesman Pericles builds the Parthenon after the Greek army’s final victory over the Persians at Plataea in 479 B.C. They labored on the Parthenon, which privileged Athens patron deity Athena, began in 447 B.C. and it was finished fifteen years afterwards. The memorial ornate sculpture was representational of Greece’s political and cultural history. The 92 metopes revealed the triumph of Greek deity’s and defeaters over their competitors and the triumph of society over