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> Culture

British magazine publishes provocative article on Greece’s bid to reclaim Parthenon marbles

The article characterizes the unique marbles as "a set of decorative stones"

Newsroom October 17 02:53

A provocative article published by British magazine “The Spectator” entitled “Tell you what Mrs Clooney. If Greece repays its $240 billion EU loan, we’ll return the Marbles,” attacks Greece’s efforts for the reunification of the Parthenon marbles.

The article also refers to Ms. Amal Alamuddin’s contribution in this cause, in her capacity as a human rights lawyer and attempts to ridicule the country’s efforts to take back what was stolen from it.

“Hollywood has a reputation for creating trite storylines in which either a lawyer is cast as the hero or England as the villain. Its latest epic has both, and this one is reality. Little more than a week after her marriage to George Clooney, the world’s most photographed barrister, Amal Alamuddin -Clooney, has flown off to advise the Greek government on how to force the removal of the Elgin Marbles from the British Museum,” says The Spectator.

The writer of the article expresses the opinion that Greece, due to the economic crisis, has more immediate worries than the “whereabouts of a set of decorative stones” (a phrase which shows exactly what these amazing and unique artifacts mean to some ignorant British) that “were rescued in the early 19th century with permission from authorities in Athens — to save them from being chiselled away by peasants for -quicklime.”

The British magazine and then proposes a “compromise” to Ms. Alamuddin and Greece: “We will return the Elgin Marbles once Greece has repaid the €240 billion of emergency loans made by EU states during the crisis, and honoured all its government bonds.”

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The grossly inaccurate article concludes that Greece should “recognize the role Lord Elgin played in rescuing its deteriorating heritage and accept that the British Museum has done an excellent job in preserving the marbles and displaying them to scholars and the public alike.”

Apparently it has escaped the attention of the British magazine that the British Deputy Culture Minister Helen Grant acknowledged a few hours ago that the British government is holding talks with the Greek side on the return of the Marbles.

 

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