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Parthenon Marbles Essay

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Stephanie Thevarajah Thevarajah 1
Tarah Csaszar
CLAS 1P91
1 December 2014 The restitution of the Parthenon marbles to the Greeks from the British has been an ongoing struggle since the beginning of the 20th century. The concept of culture encompasses all aspects of a community’s identity including the highlighted actions by the population and evidence of their civilization, including their art. For the Greeks, their art was praised and an important representation of their unique skills. The Parthenon marbles were a part of the Hellenistic culture that had lost its social context the moment these sculptures were placed elsewhere from its original source. The process of building the marble sculptures involved the most skilled architects …show more content…
For the ancient pan-hellenic community, art was a prospect for competition with their enemies. It defined their unique skills and allowed them to display their act of victory against their defeated enemies, especially the Persians. The success against Persia was highlighted in the construction of the Parthenon marbles to outbid the ceremonial center built by the Persian leaders of the time. Thus, the Greeks attempted to defeat the Persians in the war by considering the architectural and artistic consumption as well. Battles against the Centaurs and the Amazons have also been a central theme for various sculptures in order to make relevant references to Athenian power and their mighty fight against the “other”. The “other” in the case of these sculptures included the Persians, the semi-human monsters of the Centaurs and the feminine entity of the Amazons who are all highlighted in these pieces of art for their inferiority towards the immense power of the Athenians. For the Greeks, art was an essential part of their political and social identity. The Parthenon Marbles represented a great success for the community and the absence of such a sculpture masks that sense of pride and power that the Athenians showed in their

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