Tuesday, 16 November began with Prime Minister Mitsotakis on ITV's Good Morning Britain.

Greece's Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis spoke about his nation's handling of the pandemic and on going measures; the challenges and risks facing migrants and refugees; explained that it is the long and respectful cooperation between Greece and the UK which he hopes will catapult the UK into enganing in bi-lateral talks to find a solution for the reuification of the Parthenon Marbles.

"Where there's a will", Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis added, the continued division of the sculptures from the Parthenon would be resolved.

BCRPM have campaigned for nearly 4 decades and continue to do so reinforcing that this is about reuniting a peerless collection of sculptures that belong to the Parthenon, which still stands. A magnanimous gesture from the UK to Greece in this special year, the 200th year of Greek independence would be hugely welcomed. Sentiments echoed by Prime Minister Mitsotakis.

The meeting at No 10, which followed on the same day was also covered by most of the media, you can read the summary from UK Government portal here. The concluding paragraph reads:

Prime Minister Mitsotakis raised the issue of the Parthenon Sculptures. The Prime Minister ( The Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP) said that he understood the strength of feeling of the Greek people on this issue, but reiterated the UK’s longstanding position that this matter is one for the trustees of the British Museum. 

Only two months ago it was UNESCO's ICPRCP that concluded at the 22nd session, which ended on the 29th of September evening, the Committee issued (due to the countless efforts of Greece and the invaluable support of Zambia, Egypt, and other countries-members of the ICPRCP) for the first time, a Decision concerning specially the issue of the return of the Parthenon Sculptures. The Committee urged, through the Decision, the United Kingdom to reconsider its position and to negotiate with Greece, in bona fide, acknowledging that the matter is intergovernmental - contrary to the British side's claim that the case concerns exclusively the Trustees of the British Museum - and that Greece is claiming rightly and legally the Return of the Sculptures. This new Decision, is an important development in the recognition of the legality and intergovernmental character of Greece’s just claim.

Prime Minister Mitsotakis went on to visit London's Science Museum for the opening of the exhibition, entitled ANCIENT GREEKS: SCIENCE AND WISDOM. Prime Minister Mitsotakis addressed the gathering and said: "The exhibition "Ancient Greeks: Science and Wisdom" highlights how modern scientific innovation helps to reveal more than ever about ancient Greece - allowing us to travel back in time, to an ancient civilization." He then added:"We want to work with the UK government and the British Museum to find a solution so that the Parthenon Sculptures can be seen in their entirety in Athens, where they belong. This way they can be better appreciated."

"Undoubtedly, they are best viewed in situ, and in context. That they are connected visually to the very monument which lends the sculptures their global significance, really matters. Which is why we want to work with the UK government and the British Museum on a solution that will allow for the Parthenon Sculptures to be viewed as one, in Athens.I raised the issue with Prime Minister Johnson today and I very much intend to continue working hard until the Parthenon sculptures have been returned permanently to the Acropolis Museum." To read Prime Minister Mitsotakis' full speech, please follow the link, here.

The exhibition 'Ancient Greeks: Science and Wisdom' at the Science Museum runs from 17 November 2021 to 05 June 2022.

TA NEA 20 November 2021

Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ meeting with the British Prime Minister, brought the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures back onto the world stage. Boris Johnson's response was limited to the long-established rote, that this is a matter for the British Museum, and despite UNESCO’s recent decision that the issue should be discussed between two nations: Greece and the UK. The British Prime Minister's answer has been used before, and has become a standard reply.

The British Museum is not a state museum. However, it is generously subsidized by the state. And, of course, it is subject to British law. According to the current law (1963), its Trustees are not entitled to consent to the removal of the Sculptures. However, this does not mean that the British Government is not entitled, if the will is there, to amend this law.

Elgin was an opportunist and used illegal and illegitimate means to fircibly remove and export the Sculptures from Greece for his own purposes, to decorate his ancestral home. This is a blatant act of theft, accompanied by unprecedented vandalism, which caused incalculable damage to the monument, in addition to the physical damage and aesthetic integrity.

Elgin, acted as a looter, when he went on to sell the Sculptures to the British government, which in turn placed them in the British Museum. The British government , knowingly, accepted products of theft, ignoring the scandal that erupted in public opinion at that time, the strong objections and protests of prominent figures in Britain and Europe. The historical data of the Ottoman rule proves that there was no legal acquisition of the Sculptures by Elgin and, consequently, not by the British Museum also.

The struggle of Greece for the repatriation of the Sculptures began almost immediately after the establishment of the Greek State. It became international in the 80’s with Melina Mercouri’s passionate, official request, made to both the British Museum and UNESCO.

Our position has been from the outset and remains national, unanimous, unchanging, and clear. The violent and destructive forced removal of the Sculptures from the Parthenon and their subsequent division from their natural and conceptual environment is contrary to the current laws, the common sense of justice and the morals of the time, which took place, are still evident. Today, it is also still contrary to national and international law, international agreements, and conventions, as well as to commonly accepted principles and concepts for the protection and management of cultural heritage.

The Greek State does not recognize the British Museum’s right of ownership, and possession of the Sculptures. On the contrary, it is constitutionally and morally obliged to claim and pursue by any  appropriate means their final, permanent return, in order to restore the law and moral order, and above all to restore the integrity of the monument.

Our claim for the reunification of the Sculptures has in addition a broader and universal cultural dimension. Unlike other looted monuments, the Parthenon Sculptures are integral parts of a complex architecture and artistic creation, constituting a single and indivisible natural, aesthetic, and conceptual entity. At the same time, the Parthenon is in direct relationship and relevance to the buildings that surround it and, which, constitute an inseparable unity, which is determined and highlighted by the natural landscape of the Acropolis. This unity has a specific ideological and conceptual background, while it conveys specific messages and symbolisms.

Perpetuating the breakdown of the integrity of the Parthenon, with its universal symbolic value and unifying power, is a constant moral and cultural crime. For this reason, the Greek request was not limited to a national context. It acquired an international dimension. It has emerged as a universal, urgent, and always timely demand of civil society everywhere. On a symbolic level it has become synonymous with the international demand for universal respect for and defense of the common cultural heritage of humanity.

On the other hand, the British Museum, and those behind it, remains attached to colonial origins, starting from a basic component of their character and mentality, the competitive collection and demonstration of all kinds of "acquisitions" and "trophies".

The Greek State, at the highest level, has declared its intention to remedy the void that the return of the Sculptures will create in the British Museum, offering temporary exhibitions of outstanding antiquities. At the same time, however, it assures the British side that as long as it persists in its refusal, Greece will continue to intensify the pressure internationally, until it becomes unbearable, and the British are forced to reconsider their stance.

Dr Lina Mendoni
Minister for Culture and Sports

To read the original article in Greek, visit Ta Neaand we've added a link to a pdf of that page.

03 September 2019 Yannis Andritsopoulos, London Correspondent for Ta Nea, Greece's daily newspaper wrote his report following Prime Minister Mitsotaki's offer of a loan to the British Museum made in an article published in the Guardian.

The Greek government must acknowledge the British Museum’s ownership of the Parthenon sculptures before its Trustees consider whether or not to lend the marbles to Greece, a museum representative told Ta Nea, Greece’s daily newspaper.

“A precondition for any loan would be an acceptance of ownership of those objects by the Trustees / the Museum”, a British Museum spokesperson told Ta Nea, commenting on Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s recent statement that he will ask Prime Minister Boris Johnson to approve a loan of the Parthenon Marbles to Athens in a temporary swap with other ancient artefacts.

“The Trustees will consider any loan request for any part of the collection. As yet there has been no direct contact from the Greek authorities regarding the proposal made over the weekend”, a British Museum’s spokeswoman said, stressing that “as an arms-length body, this would be a matter for the Trustees not the UK Government.”

“The British Museum is committed to sharing its collection as widely as possible, as one of the leading lenders of objects in the world we lent over 5,000 objects to venues in the UK and internationally last year,” she added.

“The Parthenon Sculptures are legal property of the British Museum. They are free to view, have been on display for over two hundred years, and millions from across the world have seen them”, a Downing Street spokesperson told Ta Nea.

“Decisions relating to their care are taken by the Trustees of the British Museum - free from political interference,” the UK government’s spokesperson said.

Mitsotakis told the Observer on Sunday that he would ask the new British prime minister to lend the marbles to Greece as part of its bicentennial celebrations in 2021.

“Given the significance of 2021, I will propose to Boris: ‘As a first move, loan me the sculptures for a certain period of timeand I will send you very important artifacts that have never left Greece to be exhibited in the British Museum’,” said the Greek premier.

On 7 June 1816, British Parliament voted to purchase from Lord Elgin his collection of sculpted marbles from the Parthenon and elsewhere on the Acropolis of Athens. They were then passed to the British Museum, where they are now on display. The British Museum is an arms-length body not under the control of the UK government.

“The International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS) and the twenty National Committees worldwide congratulate and firmly support Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in his efforts to reunite the Parthenon Sculptures in the Acropolis Museum in Athens for the festive bicentennial commemoration of the outbreak of the Greek War of Independence in 2021”, Dr Christiane Tytgat, President of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS) told Ta Nea.

“The loan proposition Prime Minister Mitsotakis successfully agreed with French President Macron last week - the South metope X of the Parthenon on display in the Louvre in return for a collection of bronze artefacts from Greece - was a first step on the way to making a breakthrough in the long ongoing claim by the Hellenic Government for the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures in Athens,” she added.

“We warmly welcome the announcement Prime Minister Mitsotakis made in an interview with The Observer stating that he is going to propose to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, [quote] “as a first move, to loan me the sculptures for a certain period of time and I will send you very important artefacts that have never left Greece to be exhibited in the British Museum.”

“We sincerely hope that Prime Minister Johnson, as a philhellene and Classically educated person, will give this proposition consideration, and we wish Prime Minister Mitsotakis every possible success in his campaign to reunite the Parthenon Sculptures in the Acropolis Museum in 2021,” Dr Tytgat said.

“The difference between Macron’s thoughtful, sensible and sensitive attitude to ill-gotten colonial gains stands as an admonishment to the BM’s present snooty inflexibility, which won’t deign to enter a discussion on the matter but maintains radio silence through diplomatic channels and tells outdated stories through public ones, but we fervently hope for better things from the dear British Museum very soon, as times they are a-Changing,” Dame Janet Suzman, Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, told Ta Nea.

“A twinge of discomfort might be starting to manifest itself since the BM has, we are told, printed up in the Duveen Galleries for the general public to digest, a pamphlet telling its ageing trope about universality. We would like them to show a further inclination to fair debate by publishing alongside their screed the now current view that it is high time the Parthenon marbles were graciously returned to be exhibited next to their other halves in the Parthenon Gallery of the superlative Acropolis Museum,” Dame Janet said. 

She added that “it would be nice if the Museum manifested a more Macronesque largesse of spirit in regard to what belongs to the Sacred Rock and the people of Greece.”

“A mutually agreed exchange of loans is certainly far preferable to the BM's shameless soft diplomacy 'loan' of 'Ilissos' to President Putin some five years back. That I thought was a calculated insult to the Greek government. President Macron's statements on the unconditional return/reunification of 26 African art objects from France paved the way for the recent talks between Greece and France,” Professor Paul Cartledge, A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture emeritus, University of Cambridge, Vice-Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, told Ta Nea.

“But of course we of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM) and the International Association for the Return of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS) hope for and expect much more in due course - namely, the total reunification in the Acropolis Museum of ALL pieces originally from the Parthenon that are currently held in museums outside Greece (not only in the BM)! But of course we campaign especially on behalf of the Marbles currently held (prisoner) in the BM,” Professor Cartledge said.

“For that eventual reunification the Greek Govt of the day will certainly reciprocate most handsomely with spectacular loans - such as those that are scheduled or will be scheduled to go to the Louvre no doubt will be,” he added.

Published in Ta Nea, Greece’s daily newspaper (www.tanea.gr) on 03 September 2019

 English version: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/greek-pm-told-he-must-recognise-british-museum-secure-andritsopoulos/

Original version (in Greek): https://www.tanea.gr/print/2019/09/03/lifearts/tha-eksetasoume-crto-aitima-sas-monon-ean/

Victoria Solomonides, Boris Johnson, Thaila Stathatou and Greek Minister of Culture, Melina Mercouri at Oxford University June 1986

23 December 2021, TA Nea

Four eminent figures in British public life, speak to Yannis Andritsopulos, UK Correspndent for Ta Nea and ask Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures

When he was young, he said that one day he would become "king of the world." Later, Boris Johnson lowered the bar: he decided to become Britain's prime minister. In 2019, he made it to that post.

The reputation that follows him, however, is not that of the great leader, but of the deceptive politician, who will not hesitate to say and do anything - and later take it back - if he thinks it will benefit him.

He did the same with the Parthenon Sculptures: in 1986 he was a prominent advocate for their return to Greece, confessing that Elgin stole them, as revealed by "TA NEA" last Saturday, 18 December 2021. Today, he claims the opposite. Could he change his mindonce again and allow the Greeks to rediscover their "pride and identity", as Melina Mercouri described Pheidias' masterpieces?

Eminent personalities of British public life are asking Prime Minister Johnson to do the right thing and facilitate the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles in the Acropolis Museum. Speaking to Ta Nea:

Janet Suzman, Chair of the British Committtee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles

[RETURNING the Marbles to Greece] 'would require an Act of Parliament to hand them back. This, needless to say, seems to be a more or less insuperable brake on the process of return - yet it could be passed in an afternoon.'
I quote this observation from the younger Boris Johnson’s paper on the theft of the Parthenon Marbles because it isolates the nub of the present situaation. What he is saying is that where there’s a will there’s a way. Once a government had decided to do the right thing and return the Marbles to their mother country, the Act that formally adopted them could be quickly rescinded to un-adopt them. One senses a faint groundswell of feeling that is tending that way; if you took a poll today most people would say it is only fair and right that the Parthenon Marbles should be returned. Mr Mitsotakis should soon make a quiet return visit to Mr Johnson and gently persuade him to make amends. It would enhance a reputation much battered by indecisions and prevarications not to say certain economies with the truth. Come back Mr Mitsotakis - this is your baby!

Paul Cartledge, Professor Emeritus of Greek Culture at the University of Cambridge, Vice Chair of the BCRPM and IARPS

At 22, Boris Johnson had a brighter vision than he had as mayor of London, then as foreign secretary and, now, as prime minister. Last week it was ten years since the untimely loss of Christopher Hitchens, a passionate man who was a fellow student of mine at the University of Oxford in the late 1960s. He was one of the most ardent supporters of the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures and I can well imagine how he would comment on the recriminations and inconsistencies of Johnson, once a student of Classical Studies at Oxford, and now our pitiful prime minister.

Edith Hall,  Professor of Classics and Ancient Greek Literature at Durham University, member of BCRPM

Boris Johnson's attitude to the sculptures of the Parthenon is that they are no more than a rhetorical football in his eternal game of self-promotion. As an undergraduate who liked to titillate audiences by presenting himself as a subversive controversialist, he accidentally produced an excellent moral and legal case for immediate reunification. But as a self-seeking politician he mouths what he thinks it is expedient for the most narrow-minded of his party loyalists to hear.

Sickening cynicism. He is a moral invertebrate.

But even he may be embarrassed by this astonishing discovery.

Sarah Baxter, former deputy editor of The Sunday Times

Johnson has in his office a bust of Pericles, which is a copy of the bust in the British Museum. Accordingly, the British Museum should commission copies of the Parthenon Sculptures and return the real ones to Greece. The reunification of the Marbles is morally imperative. In a last noble gesture as prime minister, Johnson should return them to where they belong. When arguing in favour of Greece, in the article he wrote as a student, Johnson noted that the Greek gods cannot and should not be deceived. Be sure that if he returns the Sculptures, the gods will smile at him again.

Boris Johnson and the triumph of Melina Mercouri

Boris Johnson with Melina Mercouri at Oxford University June 1986

In 1986, Johnson asked Melina Mercouri to speak at an Oxford Union debate on the subject of the reunification of Parthenon Sculptures. The Greek Minister of Culture won the debate by 167 votes in favour and 85 against. Dr Victoria Solomonides, a member of the Board of Directors of the Melina Mercouri Foundation, then an educational advisor at the Greek Embassy in London, reveals the background to this triumph.

"In October 1983, with the establishment of BCRPM, we began with the late Eleni Cubittthe effort to join British personalities. In the autumn of 1985, we came into contact with Oxford students. Among them, Boris Johnson, then secretary of the Oxford Union. When he was elected president, we proposed to hold a discussion on the subject with speakers Melina and the professor of logic, Michael Dammett. He immediately accepted and appointed as rapporteurs of the opposite side the architectural historian Gavin Stamp and the writer Jonathan Barnes. Although Johnson did not express a clear opinion on the return of the Sculptures, the impression we got was that it was positive. His article revealed by "TA NEA" is based on and, to a large part, copies the notes we had sent him to prepare for the event."

On August 2016, H E Ambassador Dimitris Caramitsos-Tziras came to London to start his term as Ambassador of Greece in the UK. In these three years that he has lived and worked in the UK, he has witnessed a sea change, from the outcome of the UK's Referendum and the on going Brext negotiations, to the election of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, plus the ongoing plight of the Parthenon Marbles, sadly still divided bettween Athens and London.

Yannis Andritsopoulos, UK correspondendant for Ta Nea, interviewed Ambassdor Dimitris Caramitsos-Tziras and the article can be read in Greek online here: https://www.tanea.gr/print/2020/09/26/world/brexit-mia-tainiacrdixos-xapi-ent/.

Taking up his post in London in the summer of 2016,  Ambassador Dimitris Caramitsos-Tziras experienced Britain's post Brexit Referendum division. This was followed by a myriad of consultations and challenges. Now as he prepares to return to Athens, the final outcome is still uncertain. "The British people were divided and the civil service unprepared. The lack of a plan was obvious. The further the negotiation progressed, the more the goal posts were moved. It was more of a process of internal political controversy. This is a disappointment for a country so big and powerful." Commented Ambassador Caramitsos-Tziras in Ta Nea.

"Recently, the no deal debate has reignited... I have always believed that this was part of the negotiating tactic and not a substantive intention. Personally, I believe that neither side wants a no deal, nor does it want to bear the burden of a deadlocked negotiation that would have economic, political and social implications for both. Clearly, though, the possibility of no deal has not gone off the table."

And on Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the Ambassador acknowledges that Johnson is 'a product of the British educational establishment' and yet has "elements of modernity in his politics - a policy not always of principles and beliefs, but of realism, sometimes cynical. As a personality, he's very interesting. I've met him a few times. He always felt the need to show or demonstrate his ability to speak the Greek language. We covered the classical poets to the irregular verbs in Ancient Greek, which he  test my knowledge!" Adds the Ambassador.

And on the matter of the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, Yannis asked the Ambassador: "Do you think the British will return them?"

The Ambassador's reply sums up the current position:"Thanks to Greece's efforts, the pressing issue remains in the public debate. There is hope that some British leaders will see it differently. I believe that Britain is missing the opportunity to be at the forefront of international developments, at a time when everyone is talking about the return of certain cultural treasures. Prime Minister Johnson has the opportunity to make a magnanimous gesture that would be a reflection of the true spirit of these times."

H E Ambassador Dimitris Caramitsos-Tziras concludes his term of office in the UK on 30 September 2020

On our part, Chair Janet Suzman and Vice-Chair Professor Paul Cartledge plus the 13 members of our Committee (BCRPM), wish to thank the Ambassdor for his help and support over these past three years. Most memorable was the Ambassador's letter to Dr Hatwig Fischer, Director of the British Museum on 26 April 2018. The  Ambassador poliely turned down the opportunity to attend the opening of the 'Rodin and the Art of Ancient Greece' exhibition. You can read the letter heretoo. For BCRPM's press release on the Rodin exhibition, kindly follow the link or read more on articles written at that time, check out https://www.parthenonuk.com/latest-news/41-2018-news/393-rodin-bm-exhibition-not-a-justification-for-keeping-them-in-london and https://www.parthenonuk.com/component/content/article/26-articles-and-research/400-the-rodin-exhibition-at-the-british-museum-is-now-open?Itemid=101

On 13 June 2018, Vice-Chair of BCRPM, Professor Paul Cartledge wrote in the Frieze. It was at that time that the then leader of the Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn had also announced his support for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles in Greek newspaper, Ta Nea.

Paul Cartledge writes: 'The 5th-century BC artefacts were brought to London by Lord Elgin at the beginning of the 19th century, having apparently secured permission from the ruler of the Ottoman Empire, which occupied Greece at that time. They have been housed at the British Museum from 1816, and the Greek government has regularly lobbied for their return. Corbyn told the Greek paper: ‘As with anything stolen or taken from occupied or colonial possession – including artefacts looted from other countries in the past – we should be engaged in constructive talks with the Greek government about returning the sculptures.’ To read the full article in Frieze, follow the link here.

Support from Labour MP's saw two prominent Ministers at the heart of BCRPM's capaigns in the 90's and beyond, namely Christopher Price and Eddie O'Hara, respectively Vice-Chair and Chair of this committee. Support has always been there yet Tony Blair's government didn't do anything and tragically, there was no support from Gordon Brown.

Jeremy Corbyn was and continues to be supportive. And what of Sir Kier Starmer? 

Labour Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, Jo Stevens spoke about the sculptures alongside a panel hosted by the BBC on Politics Live. This was  post Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis' London visit and meeting with UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.

Labour MP for Hornsey & Wood Green and Shadow Foreign Minister (Europe & Americas), Catherine West also interviewed by Ta Nea on Thursday 02 December, was quoted as urging Prime Minister Boris Johnson to bring the matter of these sculptures to the House Commons. Catherine West feels that all MP's deserve to know the full story and have an open discussion.  

In today's Ta Nea, UK Correspondent Yannis Andritsopoulos has once again interviewed Jeremy Corbyn, a firm supporter for the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles. Jeremy Corbyn hopes that Labour leader, Keir Starmer will also add his support.

“My position has always been that the Parthenon Marbles should be returned to Greece." Despite being a 'wonderful, beautiful' collection of sculptures, Jeremy Corbyn insists that the Parthenon Marbles do not belong in the British Museum and he hopes that the Labour Party will decide to defend this view.

“Boris Johnson may well be a classicist. He may well love Greece. I love Greece too." Adds Corbyn, and goes on to say that this love of Greece is not the justifucation for keeping the sculptures divided. He continues: "Let's be grown up about this.The idea that it's okay to forcibly remove things is wrong. Cultural artefacts are there for all, but they really belong in the place that they were made and developed in the first place.”

Chair of BCRPM, Janet Suzman stands by the release issued in 2018 where she concludes: “Nothing will change in relation to the Parthenon marbles until and unless there is a meeting of minds at head of state level between Greece and Britain.” A sentiment that also formed the Decision made at the 22nd session of UNESCO's ICPRCP meeting 27-29 September 2021. 

RECOMMENDATION 22.COM 6

The Committee,

Recalling that the issue of the Parthenon Sculptures has been a pending item in the Committee’s Agenda since 1984,

Acknowledging relevant UNESCO recommendations expressing its continuing concern for a solution to the issue of the Parthenon Sculptures,Recalling that the Acropolis of Athens is an emblematic monument of outstanding universal value, inscribed in the World Heritage List,

1.Acknowledges the ongoing cooperation between Greece and the United Kingdom on cultural matters and expressesthe wish that it should continue with a view to conclude the ongoing discussions in respect of the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures;

2.Notesthat Greece invites the United Kingdom to collaborate with Greece in exhibiting all the Parthenon Sculptures in their respective collections in the Acropolis Museum;

3.Takes noteof the Acropolis Museum’s invitation to the British Museum in order to advance further collaboration on Parthenon studies; which the British Museum warmly accepted;

4.Also takes noteof the good progress made by the Acropolis Museum and the British Museum in the collaborative programme of digital scanning of the sculptures of the Parthenon in both museums;

5.Further acknowledges that an official letter was sent in August 2013 by UNESCO to the United Kingdom government and the British Museum, inviting them to explore the possibility of the United Kingdom agreeing to the procedure foreseen in the Rules of Procedure for Mediation and Conciliation within the framework of the ICPRCP;

6.Thoughtfully takes note of the fact that, in March 2015, the United Kingdom government and the Trustees of the British Museum informed UNESCO in separate letters respectively that they did not believe that the application of the mediation procedure would substantially carry forward the debate and that they had decided respectfully to decline the request;

7.Thoughtfully takes note that, following the Committee’s Recommendation 21.COM 7, Greece sent to the United Kingdom an invitation to a bilateral expert meeting in Athens which was not accepted by the United Kingdom;

8.Expresses concern that the Duveen Gallery of the British Museum is not currently open to the public, due to essential repairs and looks forward to its reopening in due course;

9.Calls upon Greece and the United Kingdom to intensify their efforts with a view to reaching a satisfactory settlement of this long-standing issue, taking into account its historical, cultural, legal and ethical dimension;

10.Invites the Director-General to assist in convening the necessary meetings between Greece and the United Kingdom with the aim of reaching a mutually acceptable solution to the issue of the Parthenon Sculptures.

DECISION 22.COM 61

The Committee,

1.Recalling Article 4, paragraphs 1 and 2 of its Statutes,

2.Noting that the request for the Return of the Parthenon Sculptures is inscribed in its Agenda since 1984,

3.Recalling its 16 Recommendations on the matter,

4.Recalling further that the Parthenon is an emblematic monument of outstanding universal value inscribed on the World Heritage List,

5.Aware of the legitimate and rightful demand of Greece,

6.Acknowledging that Greece requested the United Kingdom in 2013 to enter into mediation in accordance to the UNESCO Rules of Procedure for Mediation and Conciliation,

7.Recognizing that the case has an intergovernmental character and, therefore, the obligation to return the Parthenon Sculptures lies squarely on the United Kingdom Government,

8.Expresses its deep concern that the issue still remains pending;

9.Expresses further, its disappointment that its respective recommendations have not been observed by the United Kingdom;

10.Expresses its strong conviction that States involved with return or restitution cases brought before the ICPRCP should make use of the UNESCO Mediation and Conciliation Procedures with a view to their resolution;

11.Calls on the United Kingdom to reconsider its standand proceed to a bona fide dialogue with Greece on the matter

The presentation by Greece at UNESCO's ICPRCP 22nd Session took place on Wednesday the 28th of September 2021. Greece was represented by the Ministry of Culture by the Secretary General of Culture George Didaskalou, the new General Director of the Acropolis Museum Nikolaos Stampolidis, the Head of the Directorate of Documentation and Protection of Cultural Heritage, and Legal Adviser of the Special Legal Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Artemis Papathanassiou (all pictured above). For the first time, apart from the recommendation, a decision with stronger wording was also agreed.

25 November 2021 

Sometimes fairy tales come true: I never thought to see the stunning coverage given to the Marbles by two leading right-wing newspapers, The Mail and The Telegraph. But see how one can be so wrongfooted: The Mail quotes the Greek Prime Minister’s eloquent case for the return in full, and the Telegraph offers a huge, unmissable, two-page spread offering the pros and cons of a return.

The tall dark and handsome stranger has ridden into the enemy camp bearing a white flag of peace and bounty; PM Mitsotakis covers every relevant point about the continuing stubborn possession by the British of the world’s finest pieces of ancient sculpture, while appealing warmly to the better nature of the man in No 10. Neither he nor the nation knows whether that man even has a better nature, but we must hope that he has.

A good sign - albeit a tiny one - is that PM Johnson told PM Mitsotakis that it is not a governmental issue but one for the British Museum to attend to. This is nonsense because it is indeed an inter-governmental issue, but it at once moves the matter to a more arms length distance from his office. Hopefully it even might allow Johnson’s entitled heart to become assailed by thoughts of a more classical nature while he properly assesses Greece’s just case and gives the green light to grown-up debates and discussions, and eventually to the repeal of certain Acts.

The time has come for the British and its fabulous Museum to return what was sneakily taken from an occupied country two hundred years ago. The behaviour of Elgin and his henchmen is not divulged to the public who come to admire these figures; the BM avers they were ‘legally acquired’ and leaves it at that. It does not recount to the visitor the briberies and corruptions over many years that Elgin indulged in. Nor does it tell of the brutally rough choppings and sawings of pieces of magnificence from the building the figures adorned. The sense of British fair play surely cannot be dead? If the public were told the full story they could not possibly approve.

Recent polls suggest public opinion is growing in favour of return, due largely to a greater historical awareness of colonial misdemeanours and a questioning of a dead empire’s right to imagine itself unassailably in the right. The BM is behind the curve on this. It has a reputation to save and must go about saving it right now.

I cannot think of a single argument in favour of keeping the legacy of Greece locked in Bloomsbury, and certainly not the one of a precedent which could lead to the emptying of museums worldwide. There’s no sign of a deluge of requests. Certain things must be returned and that’s that; Benin will be celebrating long before Athens. The millions of other objects which delight and educate will stay where they are.

I was told by the former President of Greece, a government ago, that Greece only wants what was taken unlawfully by Elgin from the Parthenon, and is in fact happy that many museums possess prized parts of classical Greece. The BM has other rooms chocca with Greek treasures, but in return for those still sitting in Room 18, we could gaze on loans that have never before left Greece. Who does not wish to gaze on the golden face of Agamemnon, and other Mycenean treasures? Me for one. You?

Dame Janet Suzman
Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM)

This was also published in eKathimerini

Boris Johnson has long hailed Pericles as his political hero. How does the British Prime Minister compare to the ancient Athenian statesman?

For Professor Paul Cartledge, it’s straightforward: “Johnson and Pericles? No comparison. Johnson v Pericles? No contest,” he says.

The Cambridge classicist has spent more than 50 years studying the history and civilization of ancient Greece. An eminent Hellenist, a prolific writer (he has written, edited or co-edited more than 30 books) and a long-standing philhellene (he has been visiting Greece since 1970 and he is a staunch supporter of the Parthenon Marbles’ reunification), Cartledge will on Monday be named Commander of the Order of Honour (Ταξιάρχης τοῦ Τάγματος τῆς Τιμῆς). It is one of the highest honours that the Greek state awards. The decision to bestow the title on Cartledge for his “contribution to enhancing Greece’s stature abroad” was taken by Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

Cartledge has contributed to several television and radio programmes and publications on issues related to ancient Greece.

The renowned academic is author of popular history books such as The Spartans: An Epic History, Thermopylae: The Battle that Changed the World, The Greeks: A Portrait of Self and Others, Alexander the Great: The Hunt for a New Past and Democracy: A Life. His latest book is Thebes: The forgotten city of Ancient Greece (Picador, 2020). In 1998 he was the joint winner of the Criticos (now London Hellenic) Prize for The Cambridge Illustrated History of Ancient Greece.

Cartledge, 74, is A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture emeritus at the University of Cambridge, A.G. Leventis Senior Research Fellow at Clare College, University of Cambridge, and Member of the European Advisory Board of Princeton University Press.

He is Vice-Chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM) and elected Vice-President of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS). He is also President of The Hellenic Society, Chair of the London Hellenic Prize, member of the International Honorary Committee of the Thermopylae-Salamis 2500 Anniversary framework and Honorary Citizen of Sparta.

In an interview with Greek daily newspaper Ta Nea, Professor Paul Cartledge spoke about his relationship with Greece, ancient history (including its connection and relevance to our times), democracy (ancient and modern) and the Parthenon Marbles.

Q: Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou has named you Commander of the Order of Honour in recognition of your contribution in enhancing Greece's stature abroad. What does it mean to you to receive this award?

A: It means the world to me, since it's a public and visible confirmation that somehow both my academic research (and publications) and my attempted media interventions on cultural and other issues affecting modern as well as ancient Greece have been to a satisfactory degree successful. I see myself, perhaps rather grandiosely, as a 'public intellectual', and since around 1990 I have both tried to publish work that, though academically based and scrupulously researched, is also 'accessible' to a wider public than just my specialist university colleagues and students, and to intervene on major public cultural issues, such as the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, a cause very dear to my heart. I tried to sum up these points as part of my Inaugural Lecture as the founding A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture in the University of Cambridge (delivered 2009, and published by the C.U.P., 2009): 'Forever Young: Why Cambridge has a Professorship of Greek Culture'.

Q: When did you first become interested in Greek history and culture? Why did you choose to study the Classics?

A: I can almost pinpoint the moment to a precise year: I was given for my 8th birthday (1955) a copy of a simplified, children's version of Homer's Odyssey. We all know the famous episode when Odysseus, after 20 years away, at last returns to his island-kingdom of Ithaca, only to find that his palace has been taken over and is being trashed by 108 'suitors' (of his faithful Spartan wife Penelope). Outside the palace back door, full of ticks and generally in a very bad way, lies amid the dirt and squalor a dog - Argos. Once he had been Odysseus' favourite hunting dog, but now he is abandoned and degraded. Odysseus comes upon him and, though he is in disguise as a poor beggar man, Argos recognises his master! But the effort is too much - Argos has a heart attack and dies. Odysseus secretly sheds a tear - I wept out loud for half an hour...

That's the symbolic moment of origin of my classical career. Just as crucial, obviously, was the fact that I attended private schools in which the teaching of Latin was begun at the very same age - 8, and of Greek at age 11. And the learning of Latin and Greek was privileged: if you were good at these languages, as I was, then you found yourself placed in the 'top' forms or sets. And so it went, as I progressed from Colet Court in London to the senior St Paul's School, a famous Classics school founded in 1509 by humanist John Colet, a friend of Erasmus. And from there on to New College Oxford, to read 'Mods' and 'Greats', i.e. Classics (1965-69). I graduated with a 'Double First' and, since by 1969 I'd decided I wanted as a career to teach ancient history at university, I embarked on a course of doctoral (DPhil) research into early Spartan history and archaeology under the supervision of John Boardman - then plain 'Mr Boardman', now 'Sir John'.

Q: When did you first visit Greece and what do you recall from your first visit to the country?

A: I am rather ashamed - retrospectively - that I did not visit Greece until 1970 - as part of my doctoral programme. My first serious venture on Greek soil was on Crete, to take part in (in fact oversee the pottery shed for) Hugh Sackett & Mervyn Popham's excavation for the BSA (British School at Athens) of the so-called Unexplored Mansion site at Knossos. Mainly Roman levels were what we were hitting in summer 1970 - but that's not all we British and American students were hitting, by any means. A couple of local mpouats (boîtes) engaged our interest of an evening, and at weekends we went on ekdhromes, expeditions, either solo (as I did once - and when I asked directions, a local farmer asked me very fiercely 'Germanos eisai?' 'Oxi, Anglos!', I replied. Huge smiles all round - this was only a generation after the Nazi occupation) or in a group.

Participation in that excavation gave me a series of lasting and deep friendships, some now interrupted by distance or death but others still alive and well. It was also my introduction to Greek politics - under the 'dictatorship' of 'the Colonels'. Members of the BSA were required - by the Greek state - to swear that they wouldn't get involved in any political activity. I duly signed, but did not abide by my oath, not on Crete (where I listened and learned to how the fiercely independent Cretans saw Athens, regardless of which regime held power there) so much as back in Athens.

I signed the oath at the British School under the watchful eye of the then Director, Mr PM Fraser (All Souls Oxford). That would have been in about June 1970, when I arrived in Greece for the very first time. On Crete (BSA dig at Knossos) in summer 1970 I talked a lot of politics - the Cretans I spoke with (workers on the dig) were openly contemptuous of the Colonels. (Except for the Dig Foreman, Andonis - who was a Colonels' supporter. He had gained the position because his brother, a communist, had been sacked from it...) We weren't supposed even to 'talk' politics. Back in Athens in 1971 I had friends who were part of the underground resistance. e.g. I attended with them a 'secret' talk given by Cambridge economics prof Joan Robinson and went around with them distributing resistance literature to private addresses in the city. (No mobile phones, no internet...). On one occasion I agreed to act as a courier - between the resistance and (Lady) Amalia Fleming, widow of Sir Alexander (discoverer of penicillin), who lived in London. I was given - I can't now remember by whom - a fairly large packet (no idea what it contained!) to take through customs at Athens airport and then on to London, where I mailed it to Lady Fleming through the normal post. I was very very nervous going through Athens airport security and customs - but my carry-on bag wasn't searched.

Q: In Greece we have debates from time to time about the usefulness of studying Ancient Greek. Do you think that there is value in learning this ancient language?

A: I could hardly say 'no', could I? Let me start from the fact - I believe it is one - that the Greek poetic tradition is the longest continuous poetic tradition in the world, barring only - possibly - the Chinese. From Homer to the present day. One easy way of assimilating this is through The Penguin Book of Greek Verse, expertly edited and translated in 1971 by Constantine Trypanis. There are other such compendiums, but that one has the original Greek versions as well as a serviceable English (prose) translation. Then there is the fact - of this I have no doubt - that ancient Greek is the richest member of the Indo-European language family, capable of expressing the minutest nuances of emotion and description, blessed with several voices and moods and declensions and conjugations... Then - and directly consequent upon that latter fact - it's a fact that, if you don't know Greek, you can't speak a whole slew of English: so many are the loan words or invented words taken from Greek into English - e.g. photography ('light-writing/drawing') or xenophobia ('fear of strangers/foreigners/outsiders'). But of course, the chief value of learning ancient Greek is to read ancient Greek texts in the original - Homer, the world's greatest epic poet, Aeschylus, Sophocles and Euripides, some of the world's greatest tragic dramatists, Hippocrates, father of Western medicine, Herodotus and Thucydides, founding fathers of my own discipline of History, Plato and Aristotle, twin founders of Western philosophy - need I continue??

Q: Britain has a rich tradition over many centuries in teaching and studying the Classics – from which you have benefited and to which you have contributed immensely. Why would someone study ancient history now? How is it relevant to us?

A: In my last answer I mentioned my intellectual roots in ancient Greece: the Histories of Herodotus of Halicarnassus (c. 484-425 BCE), the History of the Atheno-Peloponnesian war by Thucydides of Athens (c. 460-400). Most people who become professional classicists do not become as I did ancient historians; for them, the literature or the philosophy are what attract and engage them. But - like one of my own English history heroes, Edward Gibbon - I have known from the age of 8 or so that I wanted to be a historian, and, since I'm a Classicist, that means I'm an 'ancient' historian. But I insist: I am a historian who happens to specialise in ancient (Graeco-Roman, Mediterranean) history, not some peculiar species of historian. Like Herodotus what engages me above all are causality and causation - why did things happen, and happen the way they did, and in no other way? I mean really significant things such as the birth, development, spread and demise of (ancient, direct) democracy, the conquest of Greece by Republican Rome, the fall of the Roman Empire in the West and East. Like Thucydides, I'm particularly preoccupied with trying to understand and explain politics - the political process, the methods of politicians, the involvement of the masses in decision-making.

Q: Which ancient Greek figure stands out for you, and why?

A: May I choose two, please? One female, one male. My female choice is a Spartan, not just any Spartan female, I admit, but a princess of the blood (more precisely, of the Eurypontid blood). Sparta uniquely in the 5th and 4th centuries - still - had two royal houses, the senior males of which ruled as joint kings (basileis). Women in Sparta were unusually empowered, by contrast to the relatively lowly status of Greek women in others of the 1000 or so Greek cities. But even Sparta couldn't contemplate a ruling Queen. Nor - I am assuming - did wives choose the names of their daughters, so I am assuming that it was her father, King Archidamus II (r. c. 465-427), who chose the name of his daughter - my female choice - Kyniska. The name means 'little dog' or 'puppy', and it's the female equivalent of Kyniskos, a name attested elsewhere in the 5th-century Peloponnese. I infer that the name gives a nod to the fact that Spartans bred particularly excellent hunting dogs, especially females, which they used in pursuit of the greatest of all 'big game', the wild boar of the lower Taygetus mountain slopes. We don't know exactly when Kyniska was born - her full brother Agesilaus II saw the light of day in about 445, so I suppose that 440 or so would be a reasonable birthdate. In which case she was about 45 when she made the biggest possible splash in the world of sports normally restricted exclusively to Greek males: the equestrian competition at the Olympic Games. In 396 she won the top-notch 4-horse chariot race - and four years later repeated that amazing feat. And she was no shrinking violet. A statue base happens to have survived from Olympia on which Kyniska had engraved a boastful epigram, telling anyone who'd listen that she was 'the first woman in all Hellas (the Greek world) to have won this crown' - the victor's olive wreath. Of course, she hadn't actually driven the winning chariots, but she had reared and trained the horses in her own stables in Sparta, where there was a considerable number of successful (male) owners and trainers already. So just to ram the point home, she opened her epigram by stating her own aristocratic breeding pedigree and bloodline: 'kings are my father and brothers', that is, the aforementioned Archidamus II and Agesilaus II and her half-brother Agis II. By 396 both Archidamus and Agis were dead: how well did Kyniska's boast go down with her full brother, reigning co-king Agesilaus? Not well at all, I think. Agesilaus's encomiastic biographer, the Athenian Xenophon, took time out to insist that, although Kyniska had indeed won an Olympic victory, it was Agesilaus's idea in the first place that she compete at all, and anyway rearing race-horses was far less important than rearing war-horses!

My male choice is a different kettle of fish altogether: not a Spartan - nor an Athenian, nor a Syracusan, nor even a Macedonian but... a Theban. We don't know exactly when he was born, some time in the last quarter of the 5th century, nor do we know much about his family background or upbringing because - unlike that of his contemporary and sidekick Pelopidas - Epaminondas's biography by fellow-Boeotian Plutarch is lost. We assume he was high status and well educated, so his career and alleged espousal of Pythagoreanism would suggest. What we do know that, unlike Pelopidas again, who went into exile, Epameinondas remained in Thebes while it was under Spartan military occupation between 382 and 379 and did what he could to keep up Theban morale and resistance from the inside - until the daring stroke of Pelopidas and a small band of brothers effected Thebes's liberation in winter 379/8. Thereafter Epaminondas was in the frontline both physically and morally. On three fronts mainly: 1. the field of battle - he was a strategist and tactician of genius, winning for Thebes and its allies two major battles, Leuktra (371) and Mantineia (362); 2. federalism: Thebes was itself the chief city of a - moderately - democratic federal state, the Boeotians; in the 360s Epameinondas extended that principle to the Peloponnese with the foundation of Megalopolis as capital of the federal state of the Arcadians; and, not least, 3: liberation: in 369 Epameinondas was key to liberating the Helots of Messenia, Greeks who for centuries had been the unfree compulsory labour-force of the Spartans. Nor was he unconventional only in religion; so too in his private life. He never married, and he died (on the battlefield of Mantineia) and was buried side by side with his current male lover.

Q: In your recently released book Thebes: The Forgotten City of Ancient Greece you write that democracy in ancient Greece "was not just a matter of institutions but also a matter of deep culture". What do you mean by that and, given recent political developments in several parts of the world, is democracy still deeply ingrained in our culture?

A: I'm almost inclined to say that the difference between any ancient form of democracy and any modern version is like the difference between chalk and cheese, or apples and pears... All ancient versions of demokratia were direct - in antiquity 'we the people' (demos) did not merely choose others to rule for/instead of them but ruled directly themselves. That in itself gave ancient Greek democratic citizens - free, legitimate adult males only, of course - a participatory stake in governance that is not available to the vast majority of citizens in representative democratic systems like our own today. That participatory stake was not felt or exercised only occasionally but almost on an everyday basis: in the 4th century BCE the Athenian Assembly met every 9 days, yes, really, the decision-making organ of the Athenian democratic state made major decisions of religious and other political policy every 9 days. The 6000 citizens who put themselves forward to be enrolled, by lot, on the annual panel of jurors might sit on average every other day - for which they were paid a small fee out of state funds. Every year the Athenians staged two religious play-festivals, for which audience members who were too poor to afford the entrance fee to the Theatre of Dionysus were given a small subsidy. Decisions as to who were the winning playwrights and impresarios - the ancient Athenian Oscars - were made by democratic majority vote. All that implies that democracy was for them not just a matter of institutions but also a matter of deep culture. That implication was made manifest in the second half of the 4th century when a new goddess was added to the official Athenian democratic pantheon, the personification of none other than Demokratia, herself.

Q: The title of a BBC Radio 4 series you recently participated in was Could an ancient Athenian Fix Britain? What is the answer to that question? And, do you think an ancient Athenian could fix modern Greece as well?

A: There is no answer to that question! I mean, no answer to 'how could or should Britain be fixed?', if by that is meant - how do we overcome the utterly disgraceful and shameful class divide between rich and poor (which in Covid-ridden Britain equates pretty much to healthy and unhealthy Britain)? or between the well and the less well educated? or between the rich and poor regions of not just England but also Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? or between those regions - in favour of the strengthening or shoring-up of our now very shaky Union? I could go on. The ancient Athenian polis and the modern British state are simply not commensurable. However, at another level, there are ways in which, it could be suggested, ancient Athenian practices - I mean democratic political practices - could and should be re-evaluated with a view to seeing whether and how they might improve our own. Take the present - unelected - House of Lords: scandalously un-democratic as such (and that's without mentioning the 80-plus 'hereditaries'!!). And what about having far more in the way of genuinely democratic input into legislation - via constitutional assemblies of bodies selected by lot to be genuinely representative of all relevant sections of society, who would then put forward measured recommendations to Parliament? What about genuinely democratic referendums or plebiscites - in which all parties to a debate have to put forward a manifesto for which, if they win, they will be held responsible and accountable, if necessary through the courts?

Q: Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, has made no secret of his classical education and love for Greece. He has also said that Pericles is his hero. Do you see any similarities between the two statesmen? What is your opinion of Mr Johnson?

A: I am an academic, not a politician, but I am also a committed citizen, and not a supporter of the Party that chose Mr Johnson as its leader and thereby - at a stroke - originally as our Prime Minister. Very undemocratic, that. The office of the UK Prime Minister has infinitely more discretionary powers than Pericles ever held. Pericles was regularly elected to the top executive Athenian office, but he was as such a member of a board of ten, and any moment almost of any day he might be impeached - as he in fact was in 429 (deposed and fined). For ancient Athenian democrats, all officials however selected had to be made constantly to realise they were accountable - to the People. Johnson and Pericles? No comparison. Johnson v Pericles? No contest.

Q: In his recent interview with Ta Nea, Johnson said that “the (Parthenon) Sculptures were legally acquired by Lord Elginand have been legally owned by the British Museum’s Trustees since their acquisition.” I know that you have been campaigning for decades for the Marbles’ reunification. What did you think when you read his comments? Why do you think that the Parthenon Marbles should return to Greece?

A: How would a French person feel if the Bayeux tapestry were cut in half, and half were to remain in Bayeux, while the other half was transported to Berlin? How would an Italian feel if the Mona Lisa were cut in half and one half was transported and permanently housed in Milan while the other half remained in Paris? How would one feel about either of those - as a cultured European, or as a citizen of the world? What the British Museum currently holds of the Parthenon Marbles were removed when Athens was part of the Ottoman Empire, a power whose local functionaries on the spot could not give a fig for what Britain's Ambassador to the Sublime Porte, Lord Elgin, did to or with the Parthenon Marbles. There is no evidence yet discovered to prove that what Elgin in fact did (sheer vandalism, according to Lord Byron and many of us since) was literally authorised by the Ottoman Sultan. But, even if there were, so what? What - moral - authority could possibly legitimise the removal of artefacts from a building under alien control to the jurisdiction of a foreign power which then claims them as spoils by a supposedly legal enactment? There is in Athens on the Acropolis the very substantial remnant of a once aesthetically magnificent temple, the shadow of which extends from antiquity to modernity. There is in Athens a simply amazing modern Museum with a dedicated gallery intervisible with the Acropolis in which what the Greeks hold of the Parthenon sculptures are properly - I mean scientifically, art-historically correctly - displayed. Reunification? Q.E.D.

Q: Greece is celebrating this year the bicentennial of its War of Independence, as well as the 2,500th anniversary of the Battle of Thermopylae and naval battle of Salamis. How do you evaluate the historic importance of the War of Independence and do you agree that Thermopylae and Salamis were of seminal importance for the course of Western Civilisation as we know it?

A: I am a historian of ancient Greece and Rome, not of early 19th-century Greece and Europe - and by extension the world. But I have of course read widely in the accessible literature and am aware that there has been a ton of new research issuing forth especially since the 150th anniversary, in 1971, and now at the bicentennial. As I understand it, that research tends to emphasise the singularity, the crucially influential singularity, of what Greeks both inside and outside the boundaries of the Ottoman empire achieved during the crucial first three decades of the 19th century (not coincidentally precisely the period of Lord Elgin's vandalism). In short, the Rising of 1821 saw the birth of modernity, political modernity, both in Greece and elsewhere.

As for the 2500th anniversary - or rather the anniversaries in 2021 of the two battles of 480 BCE and the anniversary in 2022 of the finally decisive battle of Plataea in 479 BCE - the issue hinges on a massive 'what if?' What if the invading Persians under Xerxes had won, rather than the 32 or 33 resisting Greek cities? (And what if at precisely the same moment, in 480 BCE, the Carthaginians of north Africa had defeated Greek Syracuse and taken over Greek Sicily?) There are many imponderables here, and as a historian I have to insist first that we must not talk of 'Greece' or 'Greeks' as if they were a unitary political force in the way that 'the Persians' were. Most Greeks of the Aegean area did NOT choose to resist the Persian invasion, and many of them fought for rather than against the Persians. Consider only Thebes: rather than join Sparta and Athens, the leading resisters, Thebes sided with almost all Greeks from Boeotia to the Hellespont and took the Persian side. And it would be hard to find two Greek cities more UNalike than Sparta and Athens in 480-479 BCE. No doubt all the resisters agreed equally that they were fighting for freedom FROM a potential Persian takeover; but within Sparta and Athens 'freedom' could have very different meanings for different sectors of the population - for male citizens as opposed to female; for all citizens as opposed to legally unfree Helots or chattel slaves. So, for me, the question of what difference did the loyalist Greeks' victory over the Persians make on a grand, world-historical/civilisational scale boils down to - would the Athenians' precious and still infant democracy have been allowed to survive, had the Persians won? To which my answer is: unquestionably not. And - therefore - but for the loyalist Greeks' victory, there would have been no "Persians" tragedy by Aeschylus (472 BCE), and indeed no flowering of the tragic and later comic drama that constitutes the very foundation of all Western drama. No democracy would have meant no free speech, no free exchange of scientific and philosophical and other ideas, ideas which sometimes challenged even the very basis of conventional norms not least in religion. But even so, it is not of course the ancient Greeks or Athenians themselves who directly ensured that their original creations should influence subsequent civilisations including our own today - for that, we have to thank the Romans, the Byzantine Greeks, the European Renaissance, the European and American Enlightenments... 'Legacy' or cultural inheritance is a dynamic, two-way, dialectical and constantly renegotiable process - currently being rather fiercely debated so far as 'Classics' is concerned, along the two axes of racism and sexism above all. Let a thousand flowers bloom...

This interview was written by  Ioannis Andritsopoulos, UK Correspondent for Greek daily newspaper Ta Nea and published on 17 April 2021

Professor Paul Cartledge received his Commander of the Order of Honour from H.E Ambassador Ioannis Raptakis in London on 22 April 2021, at the Ambassador's Residence . This  was organised on the occasion of Philhellenism and International Solidarity Day and Greece's 1821 Bicentennial. John Kittmer,  Kevin Featherstone, Stephen Fry and Robin Lane Fox  were awarded the Commander of the Order of Phoenix and Professor Paul Cartledge with the Commander of the Order of Honour . H. E Ambassador of Greece, Ioannis Raptakis, presented the medals on behalf of the President of the Hellenic Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, recognising each distinguished philhellene for their contribution in enhancing knowledge about Greece in the UK and reinforcing the ties between the two countries.

H.E. Ambassador Raptakis with Professor Cartledge, awarded  the medal of Commander of the Order of Honour  and  second photo John Kitmer with Ambassador Raptakis and Professor Cartledge.

Stephen Fry with Ambassador Raptakis, second photo Ambassador Raptais with Kevin Featherstone and  last image is Lane Fox.

12 March 2021

Yannis Andritsopoulos, London Correspondent for the Greek daily newspaper Ta Neain an exclusive interview asked UK Prime Minister Johnson about the Parthenon Marbles.

Prime Minister Johnson was asked specificlly about Prime Minister Mitsotakis' plea to have the Parthenon Marbles back in Greece.

Sadly PM Johnson chose to answer the question by repeating that the UK governments standpoint is based on legal ownership. Yet the question remains, if the legality was uncontestable, why did the UK government not retain ownership and instead transfered it to the British Museum?

In today's exclusive interview with the Greek daily newspaper Ta Nea, when asked about the Parthenon Marbles, British PM Johnson said: “I understand the strong feelings of the Greek people – and indeed Prime Minister Mitsotakis – on the issue.But the UK Government has a firm longstanding position on the sculptures, which is that they were legally acquired by Lord Elgin under the appropriate laws of the time and have been legally owned by the British Museum’s Trustees since their acquisition.” 

In this wide-ranging interview, Prime Minister Johnson also covered topics from post-Brexit Britain to ‘Global Britain’ serving UK citizens and defending UK values by extending the UK’s international influence.

He also said the UK: "remains committed to working alongside our partners in the region and the UN to find a just and sustainable solution to the Cyprus problem.” Adding that Britain is following developments in the region closely and "welcomes the resumption of Greece-Turkey talks" urging all all parties to prioritise dialogue and diplomacy.

"I am of course a keen scholar of Greek history, the decisive impact of Navarino on the success of the Greek War of Independence and Britain’s crucial role in it. The Ancient Greeks founded western civilisation and gave us science, culture, philosophy, comedy, tragedy, poetry, mathematics, literature, democracy – to name just a few. But modern Greece’s emergence on the international scene as an independent nation state has also had enormous significance for the world. Greece plays an important role in Europe, NATO and in a pivotal region connecting Europe to the Middle East.

Despite some of the challenges the country has faced over the past two hundred years, Greece today is a well-governed, prosperous, creative, peace-loving international partner in the family of nations and makes a crucial contribution to the world stage." Concluded Prime Minister Johnson.

And BCRPM would add: the halves from the Parthenon currently displayed the wrong way round in the British Museum's Room 18, were removed when Greece had no voice. As an independent nation, Greece has been asking politely for some time for the UK to find a way to reunite the sculptures in Athens, so that the surviving pieces may be viewed as close as possible to the Parthenon. The BCRPM sincerely hopes that the UK can begin talks to find a solution to this unecessary division of this peerless collection of sculptures from the Parthenon.   

The interview by Yannis Andritsopoulos was published in the Greek daily newspaper Ta Nea (www.tanea.gr), today 12 March 2021. To read the interview in English, visit the linkhere. 

Victoria Hislop, novelist and activist, was granted honorary Greek citizenship in July 2020 for promoting modern Greek history and culture.
This was a richly deserved reward for above all a trilogy of novels with Greek themes that bring out the trials, tribulations and sometimes triumphs of modern Greek communities ranging from Crete to Thessaloniki to (Greek) Cyprus. The Island (2005) was her breakout account of the use of the islet of Spinalonga (Venetian name) off north-eastern Crete as a receptacle for leprosy victims. The Thread (2011) traced the Asia Minor catastrophe of the 1920s through to its further consequential disaster - the destruction of the Jewish community of Thessaloniki by the Nazis. Finally, The Sunrise (name of a hotel in Famagusta/Turkish Varosha) explored the disaster of the 1974 Turkish occupation of 'northern' Cyprus via the fictionalised but fact-based stories of some conflicted and displaced Greek families. Overtones of ancient Greek tragedy were clearly discernible. Others of her works have Greek, especially Cretan, settings or associations. For many years she had been made uncomfortable by the British Museum's intransigent attitude to 'their' Marbles: the recent interview of the Prime Minister by Yannis Andritsopoulos (Ta Nea) pushed her finally over the edge and, happily, into the embracing arms of the Reunification camp.

20 March 2021, in Ta Nea, an exclusive interview by Yannis Andritsopoulosn exclusive interview by Yannis Andritsopoulos: 

When Victoria Hislop read Boris Johnson’s interview with Greek newspaper Ta Nea a few days ago, she was furious.

The award-winning British author says it prompted her to grab her phone, send an email and join the campaign for the return of the Parthenon Marbles to Greece.

It was a move she had been contemplating for years but her mind was made up in an instant by the British Prime Minister’s words.

“I've been thinking really deeply about the whole issue. It seems like decades somehow, because it always comes into conversation with Greeks,” the acclaimed writer told Ta Nea.

“But the actual tipping point was reading this interview with Boris Johnson in Ta Nea last Friday,” she added.

Lord Elgin, ambassador of Great Britain to the Sublime Porte, removed the 2,500-year-old sculptures from the Parthenon temple in Athens in the early 19th century, when Greece was under Ottoman rule.

In his first interview with a European newspaper since becoming the UK’s prime minister, Mr Johnson dashed Greece’s hopes of getting the Marbles back, saying that they were “legally acquired by Lord Elgin under the appropriate laws of the time and have been legally owned by the British Museum’s Trustees since their acquisition.”

“It was the same, tired statement, now made by Boris. I suppose I have extremely deep and personal anger towards Boris on many issues. Somehow, him coming out against the return of the Marbles was like 'this is it',” says Hislop, whose 2005 bestseller The Island has sold more than 6 million copies around the world and it has been published in 40 languages altogether.

I ask her what her first thought was when she read Johnson’s comments.

“I was like: ‘Oh God, that is absolutely wrong’. I think the history books will show that Boris was on the wrong side of history,” she says.

“This is the 200th anniversary of such a significant moment in Greek history,” she adds, referring to the bicentennial of the Greek War of Independence that Greece is celebrating next week. “I felt like that answer to you is a slap in the face. It felt like that.”

When she finished reading the interview, Hislop, 61, decided it’s high time she joined the campaign for the return of the sculptures.

“It's been very much on my mind now for a long time to join up, but somehow Boris just tipped me right over on Friday. What he said made me angry. This interview with Ta Nea was the last straw,” Hislop recalls.

She subsequently contacted the renowned academic Paul Cartledge, A.G. Leventis Professor of Greek Culture Emeritus at the University of Cambridge, who is also vice-chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles (BCRPM) and the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures (IARPS).

“When I read it, I emailed Paul immediately. I was in my kitchen and my laptop was in my study, which is two floors up from the kitchen. I only had my phone in the kitchen. It's really irritating to send emails on your phone; but I didn't even bother to come back up to my laptop. I just wanted to do it literally there and then.”

Hislop sent Cartledge the link to the interview on Ta Nea’s website and wrote: “Typical of Johnson to cite the usual cliché about the Marbles. (…) I think this is my final push to join up.”

Her request to join the committee was approved almost instantly.

Hislop is now a member of the BCRPM, a historic lobby group founded in 1983 by the distinguished British architect James Cubitt and his wife Eleni, a filmmaker, following a discussion the couple had with the then Greek Culture minister Melina Mercouri (one of the most emblematic figures of contemporary Greece) and her husband Jules Dassin, a renowned film director and producer.

“I should have done it before, I know,” she says. “But, you know… It’s that sense - and I don’t want this to sound defeatist - of what can one really do in the face of this very old-fashioned stubbornness. That's what I regard the British Museum slightly being. It’s a great institution, but this stubbornness that they have…”.

Hislop says that Johnson’s claim that the Parthenon Marbles were legally acquired by Lord Elgin is not accurate. “Where is that firman? (the Ottoman document used by Elgin as the basis of proving the supposed legality of the Marbles’ removal) Does it exist?” she asks.

“But… it's to do with recognising that what you did in the past isn't always the right thing for the present. You can't justify something now with what took place 200 years ago,” she adds.

“There was a fashion at the time for putting bits of Greek statues; it was fashionable to have things from the grand tour in your garden. There was an idea that Britain was this civilised place and you could just essentially steal, just take home a souvenir and put it in your luggage more or less. Greece wasn't the country then to have measures to prevent that happening. But it doesn't mean that it was right.”

I ask her what she would say to Boris Johnson if she met him. “I'd say ‘don't just cite the clichés. You're preventing the completion of one of the finest works of art on the planet. You're keeping something in a dark and dreary gallery of the British Museum as opposed to allowing it to see the light’,” says Hislop.

“The Acropolis Museum in Athens is so full of light,” she adds.

“It's like we've got this huge section of a jigsaw and we're just holding it because it's ours. This is something I find naive about still holding that view in 2021.”

Tide turning

Does she think that the Parthenon Sculptures will, eventually, return to their birthplace? Very much so, Hislop assures me.

“I think that the Marbles will return to Greece. It's a question of time. There's a zeitgeist that will sweep these precious things back to Athens.”

“I genuinely do think that the tide will turn with another generation. It might be another 10 or 20 years. This British colonialist attitude is going to seem very, very out of date and very politically incorrect,” she says.

She adds: “Forty years ago there was this sense of those wonderful sculptures that they're somehow better off here in London, that we're looking after them. That excuse is very dated now. The museum which is waiting for them is a way better place in so many ways. There is absolutely no remaining excuse for them not to go back.”

“It's almost like keeping a child from its mother. We're keeping the child. We adopted it, we brought it up but we're not giving it back.”

Hislop went on to explain why, in her view, the Parthenon Marbles could be part of the growing debate over contested heritage and Britain’s colonial past.

“I think that many people in this country, many younger people, people in their 20s, 30s and 40s, are really questioning our colonial past. They don't accept it at all; they are ashamed of it. That's what the British Museum was set up to do; to display things from our empire. When I was a child, we didn't question that. But fifty or sixty years on, we are deeply questioning what such a museum represents and the so-called ownership of many of the things inside.”

Hislop is keen to refute the so-called “floodgates” argument, according to which the return of the Parthenon Marbles could lead to a barrage of other nations' repatriation demands risking emptying the British Museum.

“We all know that the basement of the British Museum is packed. They have got so much stuff that would fill the galleries,” she says, adding that “it is also possible to create absolutely authentic, accurate copies. If the British Museum really wants to keep that as an educational gallery, make absolutely faithful copies but give the original back.”

Boris ban

Hislop reveals that for the last 1.5 years, her own family has banned her “from mentioning Boris in the house because he makes me really angry. I mean, really angry.”

Why is that? I ask her. “He led us over the cliff with Brexit which for me is a catastrophe for Britain. It turns us into this sort of parochial inward-looking country that I feel much less connected with than I did five or ten years ago when we were all European.”

“I wept when that Brexit vote happened,” she says. “I really think it was such a black day when the vote came.”

Hislop says that she “personally blames Boris” for Brexit. “If he had backed Remain, then the UK would still be part of Europe. I genuinely believe that the only reason he took the side that he did in the campaign was that he saw it as a route to becoming prime minister. The depth of his ambition... have no doubt about it. He sees himself as a kind of another Churchill.”

“For me, Boris is wrong on absolutely everything. Whatever he says, I can't agree with in any way whatsoever. Since he became prime minister, I don't think he's made really one good decision. I feel dismayed by him. He always gets away with things,” she adds.

Hislop also thinks that the British prime minister has handled the Covid-19 crisis appallingly. “Boris is very well-known for saying one thing and doing another. He tells lies. He's handled the last year of the pandemic pretty catastrophically. We've lost tens of thousands of people in lockdown. I have a lot of animosity.”

She’s speaking from personal experience, she tells me. “I was once asked to partner him in a tennis match and he turned up without a racket. It's a humorous anecdote, but it says everything about Boris Johnson; that he's all bluster, he's all talk. He is never prepared; I think he is very superficial.”

“He obviously goes to Greece to his father's house every year for holiday and he'll say he's a classicist, he knows Ancient Greek and all of this, but he doesn't actually seem to me to add up to anything.”

Last week, Johnson posed exclusively for Ta Nea next to a bust of Pericles in his parliamentary office in Westminster. “I saw the photograph next to his hero, Pericles; all of that is incredibly skin-deep,” Hislop says.

“We have 60 million people in this country who I feel have all been individually very badly led astray by him. I’m sorry I'm sort of ranting about Boris but it's partly to demonstrate how frustrated and heart-broken I am.”

Being Greek

Hislop was awarded honorary Greek citizenship in September. What does it feel like to be a six-month old Greek, I ask her.

“This is like my firman,” she says, showing me her citizenship certificate (over Zoom). “I keep it in my study.”

During the first lockdown, Hislop wrote her new book One August Night, the sequel to her 2005 bestseller The Island. Over the past few months, including during the UK’s third national lockdown, she has been working from her Chelsea home on the television adaptation of her novels Cartes Postales from Greece and The Last Dance to be released in October by the Greek state broadcaster ERT.

“Most of the time I’m kind of working in Greece although I'm sitting on my desk in London. It’s a strange thing. My body is here but my brain is somewhere else,” she says.

“The filming starts next Monday (in Crete) and I'm hoping to go out at the end of the month. That would be the first time I'm using my Greek passport. And I should be using it with huge pride.”

“We're not really allowed to travel, unless it's for work. I'm slightly hoping that they’ll challenge me at Heathrow and say ‘where are you going, madam?’ And I'll just say ‘I'm Greek, I'm on my way’!”

To  read the article in Ta Nea, kindly follow the link here or to read the original article in Greek, access this pdf.