[ukmicky (OP)]

The Elgin marble's (Parthenon Marbles) have been in great Britain since 1806  nearly two hundred years and are on show in he British museum for all to view. If they hadn't been purchased and removed by lord Elgin from the The Parthenon they would have falling to pieces by now. In my view he saved them.

The Greek government want them returned but cant relocate them in the Parthenon as they wouldn't survive very long so they have like the British built a museum to house but is it two hundred years too late ,are they now British.

Should they be returned to Greece,  I SAY NO!

They are owned by britain and have a  better chance of surviving here than anywhere else

http://lilt.ilstu.edu/DRJCLASSICS/lectures/ParthenonMarbles/marbles.shtm


http://www.greece.org/parthenon/marbles/

[Heliotrope]

If they were legally purchased then they belong to whoever paid for them.
What happens to the marbles is up to that person.
If Greece wants them back they can get their wallet out.

[neilep]

As a firm believer in empirical study I just went to Greece and purchased some marbles. I am not returning them.

Conclusion: Those marbles are ours !!

[Karen W.]

LOL.... I had never even heard of them.. WHAt kind of marbles are they exactly? Game type marbles , pillar like statues, or artifacts made from Marble?? Curious in California!

[neilep]

LOL.... I had never even heard of them.. WHAt kind of marbles are they exactly? Game type marbles , pillar like statues, or artifacts made from Marble?? Curious in California!

Karen mam...The Elgin marbles are slightly bigger !!..perhaps a ton each http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elgin_marbles   ...maybe more...perhaps less !!..and ' marble ' is a reference to the material !!...so yes, statues etc made from marble.

[Karen W.]

OK, I could find nothing at the link yet, I guess I should look further.. maybe I can find a picture.. Thanks That would be quite the set of game pieces, LOL trying to move such a massive weight!LOL! Sorry me had never heard of them, but yes you should keep them... Its been your care for many many years..! I was thinking what marbles they must be to be so treasured unlike my marble collection , I don't suppose I could fit those into my Jar!!!HEE HEE HEE!

[neilep]

Check the link again..I just fixed it

[Karen W.]

Oh my Gosh! What an incredible history and wonderful piecse, I have never seen things like that....those are beautiful and so so so very old! That is incredible.. Have you ever been able to see them yourself? GoshHHH I want to see things like that so cool! The history alone is wonderful and to be kept and preserved and gaurded tells me there was a great deal of respect involved in taking these pieces in and preserving them.. Amazing...Thanks for fixing the link Sir Neil!

[neilep]

yep..not only have I seen them but when I was a kid I spray painted one of them with  a  graffiti tag ! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graffiti

That preceded a swift  kicking out of the museum !!...and then had to go back to clean the offending tag off !!

[Karen W.]

NO WAY!!! LOL You are not serious are you!!! LOL LOL NO WAY!!!!!  HEE HEE HEE HEE!!!!

[Karen W.]

OH my Gosh...... Sir.. you were mischievious now weren't you? LOL LOL Jeepers I can't quit laughing! How old were you!! 12 or so... or older and knowing better!!! LOL LOL

[neilep]

OH my Gosh...... Sir.. you were mischievious now weren't you? LOL LOL Jeepers I can't quit laughing! How old were you!! 12 or so... or older and knowing better!!! LOL LOL

...about 13 !!..me norty !!

[Karen W.]

Hee hee hee hee!! I love it! You are so funny! 13 years old and reeking havac on the museum artifacts... I bet you learned a good lesson... Tagging.. I spent a great deal of young adult life working with the police dept. trying to rid the city of grafitti tags... One gang marking one end of the street and the others marking the other end... We did restoration and gang related classes to help the young little taggers like yourself who were so bored !!! LOL LOL LOL LOL You make me laugh so hard!! You is a bad boy indeed!!

[ukmicky (OP)]

Neil you Vandal

[Karen W.]

LOL

[moonfire]

If you own them, then keep them...funny, I was talking about us giving away the Panama Canal...how nice of us to give back something we viciously fought for, built, died for and then we give it back and say good boys and let us pay you for using it too!  What irony!

[RRR]

Any larceny is criminal action....
About a history of the Elgin marbles. In the 1805 year an english ambassador in the Ottoman empire he did steal the Parfenon's  marble in Greece... The ambassador was a criminal person.
The Parthenon's marble  it  is an ownership of Greece..
 Therefore it is need to return the Elgin marble  to Greece.

[neilep]

Any larceny is criminal action....
About a history of the Elgin marbles. In the 1805 year an english ambassador in the Ottoman empire he did steal the Parfenon's  marble in Greece... The ambassador was a criminal person.
The Parthenon's marble  it  is an ownership of Greece..
 Therefore it is need to return the Elgin marble  to Greece.

Will ewe let me at them before they get returned ?..

[Karen W.]

NEIL...LOL LOL Don't give em the spray paint! Oh NOOOOOO!!! LOL

[daveshorts]

Any larceny is criminal action....
About a history of the Elgin marbles. In the 1805 year an english ambassador in the Ottoman empire he did steal the Parfenon's  marble in Greece... The ambassador was a criminal person.
The Parthenon's marble  it  is an ownership of Greece..
 Therefore it is need to return the Elgin marble  to Greece.

The only problem with this arguement is that if everyone had to give back all the art that has been historically stolen, the louvre would be half empty,  the russians would have to give back all the stuff they pinched in the second world war, and some descendants of some aristocrats will be very rich... What happens if something has been stolen multiple times?

The real argument for giving them back is that they were off architecture that is still standing (the acropolis) and it makes more sense to see them next to it. I think possibly the british museum should lend them to a greek museum, thus not setting a dangerous precident.