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The Parthenon Marbles are a collection of several Ancient Greek sculptures from the Parthenon center in the city of Athens. The Parthenon center was a place for religious beliefs and the head of the Delian league; used to thwart attacks from neighboring countries. This building was built in 477 B.C., 33 years after the Persian wars. Soon thereafter, Greece was conquered by the Christian Byzantines who converted the Parthenon to a Christian Church. After that, Muslim Ottoman Turks seized Athens. They converted the Parthenon unto a mosque.  

Now, the Marbles have their own story apart from the Parthenon. A man named Thomas Bruce took the marbles from the Parthenon and brought them to London, England. The Marbles are on display today in the British Museum. Even though the Greek Government has requested the statues be returned, the British Museum has made it clear that they have no interest in returning them. Their reason behind this is that “the British Museum offers a sense of the wider cultural context and sustained interaction with the neighboring civilizations of Egypt and the Near East.” (The British Museum). The museum believes that they can highlight the culture of a country more than that country can themselves.  

To think about this situation in a different light, looking at what the Metropolitan Museum says, helps to consider the situation from both perspectives. In 2018, the MET returned two pieces to the Government of India. The MET says, “a work should be returned to its country of origin, based on our policies and the laws of the country in which it originated, and proactively returns the object.” (The MET). This is how these types of matters should be handled. Artwork that is made in another country and by artists in that country should be returned to the rightful place. These pieces do not belong to these museums, so why should they be allowed to claim ownership over them.