The Elgin Marbles

by The Fifth Grade Groovy Greeks

The Elgin Marbles are statues friezes, and pediments from the Parthenon in Athens,

Greece. The Parthenon is on an Acropolis dedicated to the goddess Athena. During the time the Turks invaded Greece, an ambassador for the Turks named Lord Elgin secured the marble. That's how they got their name.

Lord Elgin got the Turkish government to let him buy some statues and friezes from the Parthenon and took them to the British Museum in England.

There has been mixed thoughts about whether the Elgin Marbles should stay in the

British Museum or should go back to the Parthenon in Greece. Our group decided they should stay in Britain. We think they should stay in Britain because first of all 2,000 people visit the exhibit each day, and if they return the marbles to Greece, very few people would visit the British Museum and it would probably have to close down.

The British Museum is afraid that by giving back one collection, it will create claims to other collections.

Another reason why the Elgin Marble should stay in Britain is that if Lord Elgin hadn't taken the marbles from the Parthenon, they would have been destroyed. For example, throughout the ages, the Parthenon has been subject to theft and destruction. In 298 BC, the gold plates were stripped away and stolen from the statue of Athena. In 426 AD, one of the Parthenon's entrances was changed into an altar for a Christian Church. In 1460, the Turks tampered with the Architecture turning the Parthenon into a Mosque. In 1687, the Parthenon was used to store gun powder. During that time, a cannon ball exploded in the building, destroying the entire central section. Later, between the 1700 and 1800 a Turkish man chiseled away at the Elgin marbles destroying a large section of the Friezes.

Another reason the British should keep the Elgin Marbles is that if the British return the marbles to Greece and they put them in the Parthenon, the Parthenon could not support the weight of the marbles. (this information was given to us from a book called Ancient Greece by Anton Powell).

Also, the marbles are well preserved in the British Museum and its employees can spend lots of money preserving the marbles well.

Those are some facts and reasons why we think the Elgin Marbles should stay in the British Museum.

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