Stolen Gods

Sipping coffee in Syntagma Square won8217;t be so simple will it, this year? The Greeks, led by their Minister of Culture, Evangelos Venizelos, plan a massive campaign for the restoration of their stolen property as the world pours in for the Athens Olympics. It need not surprise anyone that the British refuse to discuss returning the Parthenon Marbles, portions of the 2,500 year-old temple to Athena 8220;acquired8221; by Thomas Bruce, eighth Earl of Elgin, when he was British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. The marbles have been parked in the British Museum, that robbers8217; cave of the world8217;s treasures, since 1816. Many of you must have seen them and I8217;m sure the thought struck eastern people, that the 17 figures and parts of the 160 yard frieze sculpted by Phidias on the western side of the Parthenon, belonged out in the Aegean sun and not in the museum8217;s bowels.

The Greek Federation of Guilds in the Culture Ministry a labour union! will distribute 300,000 leaflets until October 17 at the entrance of the Acropolis, the rocky hill in the heart of Athens crowned by the Parthenon, called 8220;the Virgin8217;s Temple8221; for the presiding deity Athena, Goddess of Wisdom. Pro-restoration appeals include letters from Britons like Robert Browning, professor emeritus at the University of London and the late actress Melina Mercouri 8220;Never on Sunday8221;, remember?, Greek Culture Minister in her time, who fought for the return of the marbles until her death in 1994. I8217;m sure eastern people are also sympathetic to the cause and do not see it as merely a European cultural problem.

But that is precisely what the British fear, since they have carried away so many eastern treasures and do not want to 8220;set a precedent8221;, though the Greeks are trying to meet them halfway on that by saying that these marbles are part of a heritage building, not stand-alone statues. But the British will never fall for that line, and if the Greeks had done their homework, they would have known why. It8217;s because the British Museum also contains portions of another ancient historical site, the Amaravati sculptures from India. But obviously the British know it and they know that we know 8212; and we8217;re watching, like we haven8217;t watched even that stupid diamond.

The Greeks may now be a Christian nation but they are spiritually free, unlike Muslims, to honour and celebrate the gods of their ancestors. It seems unlikely though that they8217;ll get their temple fragments back from the British: When the best you8217;ve got as ancient religious art is a bunch of boulders at Stonehenge, why wouldn8217;t you grab others8217; gods: Greek, Hindu, Egyptian, Chinese? And not all your highly respected 19th century scholarship can atone for common theft.