Send Them Back: The Parthenon Marbles Should be Returned to Athens
b'What\\u2019s all this nonsense about sending the Parthenon Marbles back to Greece? If Lord Elgin hadn\\u2019t rescued them from the Parthenon in Athens and presented them to the British Museum almost 200 years ago, these exquisite sculptures \\u2013 the finest embodiment of the classical ideal of beauty and harmony \\u2013 would have been lost to the ravages of pollution and time. So we have every right to keep them: indeed, returning them would set a dangerous precedent, setting off a clamour for every Egyptian mummy and Grecian urn to be wrenched from the world\\u2019s museums and sent back to its country of origin. It is great institutions like the British Museum that have established such artefacts as items of world significance: more people see the Marbles in the BM than visit Athens every year. Why send them back to relative obscurity? But aren\\u2019t such arguments a little too imperialistic? All this talk of visitor numbers and dangerous precedents \\u2013 doesn\\u2019t it just sound like an excuse for Britain to hold on to dubiously acquired...\\n\\u2014\\nWe\\u2019d love to hear your feedback and what you think we should talk about next, who we should have on and what our future debates should be.\\xa0\\nSend us an email or voice note with your thoughts to podcasts@intelligencesquared.com or Tweet us @intelligence2.\\xa0\\nAnd if you\\u2019d like to support our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations, as well as ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content, early access and much more, become a supporter of Intelligence Squared..\\nJust visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more.\\xa0\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices'