Lord Elgin and the Parthenon marbles Snatched from northern
climes Greek demands to get back the Elgin marbles risk stopping
a better idea: museums lending their treasures THERE is much to
be said for moral clarity. Greece is insisting that the British
Museum surrender the marble sculptures that Lord Elgin took down
from the Parthenon and carted away in the early 1800s. Anything
less, it says, would “condone the snatching of the marbles and
the monument's carving-up 207 years ago.” The Greek demand for
ownership will arouse widespread sympathy, even among those who
accept the British Museum's claim to the marbles. With the
opening of an impressive new museum in Athens (see article), the
sculptures from the Parthenon now have good cause to be
reunited, if only for artistic reasons. But sometimes clarity is
self-defeating. A previous Greek administration was willing to
finesse the question of ownership and co-operate with the
British Museum over a joint display of the marbles. By hardening
its position, the Gre