We call them ‘the Elgin Marbles’, the Greeks, who don’t really count any more because they’re bankrupt, call them the Parthenon Sculptures. And they live in the British Museum where all worthwhile antiquities should live. The Queen’s moving there soon. But unlike the Queen, or even Tutankhamun, who was merely ‘on loan’, we (the people of England) actually own the Elgin Marbles.
And that’s where the problem lies. The Greeks want them back. They’ve always wanted them back.
The Marbles are a series of wonderful sculptures created by some Greek geezer in about 400BC. When Lord Elgin held the almost unbelievable title of: Ambassador Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of His Britannic Majesty to the Sublime Porte of Selim III, Sultan of Ottoman Empire; in 1800 he basically stole the statues from the Parthenon and the Acropolis and shipped them over to Britain. At a personal cost of about £70,000. Because the government of the day refused to fund it. In today’s money that’s about 19.7 squillion quid. Its a fortune and more. So we can assume that Elgin was not a poor man. Though to his credit, he sold them to the British Museum for the cost of excavation and transportation, turning down offers of far greater monies from other interested parties.
Elgin always maintained that he had licenses and contracts to remove the sculptures, the Greeks have always denied this to be the case.
So 200 years later they call in Mrs Clooney to sort the mess out. So we’re led to believe. In actual fact Amal Clooney is but ‘the junior’ on the case, as she’s working with 2 top QCs. Who barely get a mention because neither gets to shag Gorgeous George. That we know of. No, its HER case.
Which would be fine if the Greeks only had to pay for her services. But they don’t. They have the fees and costs of employing a top legal team, flying them over to Greece a few times and having them compile a 300 page legal report. I hate to imagine what that costs. Lawyers are expensive. They make hookers look cheap by comparison. Even though both are engaged in screwing people.
So now the Greek government are refusing to pay the costs. Nothing new there. The Greeks are big on debt refusal at the moment. Thus some cultural benefactor who still has a few drachma in his bank account has offered to pay them.
I’ve lived within 10 miles of the Elgin Marbles my whole life and have managed to avoid them. I think maybe its time to check them out, see what all the fuss is about, before they get repossessed. Though Ikea do some pretty good PVC statuettes for the garden, I’m told.
Happy Tuesday
A xxxx
Oh that’s marbellous (ho, ho, hooooooo). Glad you enjoyed. I’ve never eaten one myself. And you’re right, of course, the Greeks would ruin them. Though they’d first borrow the money for buying them back, obviously.
xxx
Just so happens I was at the British Museum this week and like you Andy I have also successfully avoided ever seeing the famous “marbles” before now! For many years I thought they were the sort of things we used to play with when we were kids and so wondered what all the fuss was about! Having seen them- well they are quite impressive and would probably never have survived in the Greeks’ tender care for this long and so we British should keep them!