The Return of the Marbles

Athens' crowning glory, the Temple of Athena known as the Parthenon, stood happily on top of the Acropolis for more than two thousand years.

Then it was blown up during a conflict between the Venetians and the then-occupiers of Greece, the Ottoman Empire.

The fragmented decorations littered the ground until British Envoy Lord Elgin applied for permission to examine them from the local Ottoman authority. He was granted the right to look at them without interference; at the site, he apparently interpreted this to mean that he could pack them all up and ship them home.

Now the marble images adorn the British Museum in London, England. Greece, long free of its oppressors, would like the marbles back now, please.

The University of Heidelberg in Germany has just offered in January, 2006 to return a small marble fragment from the Parthenon frieze - in exchange for another work of Greek art. This ups the international pressure on the British considerably.Greece feels that Britain's reluctance to return the appropriated marbles to their original home is an insult to national honor. Britain doesn't like being bullied by Greece on a moral issue, especially one that affects its pride and joy, the British Museum.