The Greeks have lost their marbles

Greece had them first, but Britain is screaming, "finders, keepers!" It's like two children bickering over their favorite toys. There are a lot of tears and hurt feelings, but the solution is really quite simple. \nThe ownership of the Elgin Marbles has been debated for almost 200 years. \nThe Elgin Marbles is a collection of statues and pieces of the frieze, the panel that once surrounded the top of the Parthenon in Athens, Greece. Most of the surviving pieces are divided between the museums in Athens and Britain, with others spread throughout eight of Europe's greatest art museums. Athens wants them all for its own museum, which is being constructed with the hope that it will be completed in time for the 2008 Summer Olympics.\nI was taken aback by what I perceived as their stinginess until I spoke to Dru McGill, a graduate student in the anthropology department. He is on a track called "Archaeology in Social Context" within the department. He described it as "living people's interaction with archaeology."\nHe explained that when it comes to the contested ownership of ancient artifacts, there are two opposing viewpoints. Relativists believe the artifacts should remain in the countries in which they were excavated. Universalists believe the artifacts should be dispersed to museums throughout the world to be of greater benefit to all of humanity. Like so many other arguments, the middle road always seems to be the best solution.\nThe Greeks want their statues back because they belonged to their ancestors and they are a representation of their current culture and values. \n"After the Greek war of independence, Greek national identity started becoming more and more founded on the ruins and on the national pride of an archaeological past, this wonderful civilization right where they grew up ... in their own backyard," McGill said. "People can identify with them much more in Greece."\nLord Elgin collected the sculptures between 1801 and 1805. He was the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, to which Athens belonged. Though his methods of acquisition inspire debate in themselves, the British Museum legally purchased the sculptures from him in 1816. \n"Just because the Greeks were incapable of protecting them, didn't give British the right to take them," McGill said. "By keeping the marbles, the message that they are sending is that 'we value them more and they are more important here and you don't deserve to have them.' That is not a good message to be sending from country to country."\nThe British position on this debate can be found at www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk. \nThey state that they can better present the artifacts because they can juxtapose them with their influences and contributions and say they feel the Greeks will only concentrate on the local history of the sculptures. \nMcGill pointed out the shortcomings of many art museums, including the British Museum that houses the sculptures. \n"If museums are truly concerned about people seeing these objects and learning from them, then they would do a much better job of telling the story of artifacts and trying to learn everything there is about them," he said. "The Greeks can better tell the story because (the marbles) are a part of their culture. The easiest way to solve a problem of this nature is just to take turns."\n"Traveling exhibits are a great option," McGill said. "The fact that museums only display a fraction of their collection is a real problem. What they should do is open up their collections for smaller museums to be able to have things on loan." \nMcGill made an example of the Egyptian government, whose King Tut exhibit is coming to the United States again very soon. \n"It is a way for them to make money, but also a way to showcase what their nation has and what they are proud of."\nMcGill pointed out what we all learn in kindergarten.\n"I don't think that the British government should hoard ownership and the Greek government shouldn't hoard ownership," he said. "Everyone should share"