One of the UK’s most prestigious news publications, The Times of London has said in an op-ed they are in favour of the British Museum returning the Parthenon Marbles to Athens.

The British newspaper reports that for 50 years they supported the government and the British Museum in the position against the return and today they announce that they change their mind.

The sculptures belong to Athens, the article argues. “Now they have to go back,” the article claims entitled “The Times view on the Elgin Marbles: Uniting Greece’s Heritage – The case for returning the Elgin Marbles to Athens has become compelling”.

The piece starts:

The ‘Elgin’ Marbles are sublime in their depiction of the human form and the impression of movement. Millions have marvelled at these sculptures that once adorned the Parthenon and for the past two centuries have reposed in the British Museum, among the most beautiful of all its holdings.

For more than 50 years, artists and politicians have argued that artefacts so fundamental to a nation’s cultural identity should return to Greece. The museum and the British government, supported by The Times, have resisted the pressure. But times and circumstances change. The sculptures belong in Athens. They should now return.

The immediate precedent is the agreement by Italy to lend Greece a marble fragment of the goddess Artemis which was taken, like the Parthenon sculptures..

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