One of the major issues in the debate is the legality of the Elgin excavation in Greece. It has been stated, “the Elgin Marbles controversy centers on the question of whether or not Lord Elgin had permission to remove the marbles. Specifically, the analysis concerns whether to Ottomans had to right to give Lord Elgin permission to remove the marbles…” . On one side there are authors like John Merryman arguing that the Marbles rightfully belong in London; the other side is the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, demanding their repatriation back to Greece. The people in support of the Repatriation pull emotional heartstrings, and Merryman admits that if this were a moral and emotional debate the Marbles would …show more content…
Through class readings I have found myself trying to apply new methods of thinking to the Elgin Marble debate. Author Kwame Anthony Appiah writes in “Who Owns Culture” and while discussing cases unrelated to the Elgin Marble debates, some questions and ideas applied to other cases I believe could be thought of in the example of the Elgin Marbles. One example Appiah uses is the topic of worth and the (dollar) value of items and how that could be a solution for a lot of …show more content…
The suggestion and application I take from this particular excerpt questions whether or not Greece or the British Museum could put a price on the Parthenon Marbles. Is there a price that either side could pay to get their way? With my knowledge of Greece’s current economic situation, the British Museum has stronger funding than the Acropolis Museum. Greece is not lacking in Greek art by any means, but it is lacking in the necessary funding for its country and for the museum in ways that the British Museum is not. The quote above would suggest that the British Museum would pay market price; but then if Lord Elgin legally removed the Marbles from Greece, why should the British Museum have to pay for legally acquired