Professor Louis Godart speaking with Dimitra Papanou

"Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in his interview with BBBC News commenting on the havoc caused by Elgin's theft of the Parthenon Marbles and the constant refusal of the British authorities and the British Museum to return Phidias' sculptures to Greece, used a beautiful image: he said it would be as if the Mona Lisa were torn into two pieces. Therefore, it is necessary to reconstruct what existed before the dismemberment of the temple of the goddess.

I would like to add a suggestion in Mitsotakis' speech: the Mona Lisa is the work of a Renaissance genius, while Phidias' sculptures are masterpieces belonging to the people who invented democracy. In this regard, they are worth much more in the eyes of the world than any other masterpiece produced by people's art.

The British Prime Minister wanted to cancel the meeting with his Greek counterpart for one simple reason, in my humble opinion: he is ashamed and continues to argue before world civilisation that Britain does not intend to return the ill-gotten gains. Mr Sunak, knowing full well that he is wrong, behaves like a vulgar recipient of despicable theft and prefers to get away with those who, like Mitsotakis, demand the return of an asset belonging to Greece for their country. This attitude is unworthy of the Prime Minister of a large country like England.

In 1940 its pilots RAF saved the world in a crucial battle, defeating Nazi planes. Today, however, England does not seem worthy of its past.

May the cries of protest from all over the world open her ears."

Professor Louis Godart, is the former Professor of Aegean Civilization in the Faculty of Letters at the University of Naples Federico II. From February 2002 to 2016 he has been the Counsellor for Artistic Heritage of the President of the Italian Republic. Now he is Counsellor of the Minister of European Affairs.He is also the Chair of the Italian Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles, and past President of the International Association for the Reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures. 

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s last minute cancellation of his meeting with Prime Minister Mitsotakis over the Parthenon Sculptures this week has caused a diplomatic row between Greece and the UK, with Athens calling Sunak’s decision “unprecedented” and “disrespectful.” Bruce Clark, a contributor to The Economist with a long expertise on Greece and the author of the recent book Athens, City of Wisdom, which dives into the story of Lord Elgin and the Parthenon Sculptures, joins Thanos Davelis to discuss this latest move by Downing Street that is putting the issue of the Parthenon Sculptures back in the spotlight.

Bruce Clark is also a member of the BCRPM.

Listen to this episode of the Greek Current Podast.

The Times has covered every possible angle not only of PM Sunak's refusal to meet PM Mitsotakis but of the response by Gillian Keegan, the education secretary on ITV.  Tom Peck in his article [Keegan the Elgin mangler comes bearing gaffes] refers to Gillian Keegan's '30-second video clip on the lunchtime news' as constituting 'almost the entirety of public government comment on the subject'. Sigh, and deeper sigh.

"One of the more spurious points that is regularly made is that in their home in the British Museum in the global city of London, more tourists are able to visit the Elgin Marbles than if they were sent back to the provincial backwater of Athens." Writes Tom Peck in the article published on Wednesday 29 November, which deserves to be read in its entirety. The tragedy of a UK government standpoint, which does not help this nations position amongst those of all other nations.

The day before this, and also in The Times, the third Leading article on page 31 was aptly entitled Greek Gifts: 

The Elgin Marbles should be put on display in their natural habitat

Splitting the Parthenon Marbles between Greece and the British Museum is like cutting the Mona Lisa in half, according to Kyriakos Mitsotakis, that country’s eloquent prime minister. Yesterday he made his case to Sir Keir Starmer, a politician more commonly associated with the work of Sisyphus, and he had hoped to buttonhole Rishi Sunak today for the return of the Elgin Marbles to Athens until their meeting was cancelled.

It’s a tricky problem and the British prime minister could seek guidance from the classicist Boris Johnson. But Mr Sunak would soon end up losing his own marbles. As president of the Oxford Union in 1986 Mr Johnson offered Melina Mercouri, the actress turned culture minister, a platform to lobby for the return of the Parthenon frieze. By last year, he had changed his tune: “Those gods and heroes came to our country in 1812 as refugees from the Ottoman kiln,” he declared. “They were going to be melted down to make cement.”

Mr Johnson has become a Retainer. His argument is that Lord Elgin, British ambassador to the Ottoman empire, was not an imperial plunderer.

His second argument persists too. If you surrender the marbles to Greece, what about the theoretical claims from Egypt and Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and Nigeria. What would be left of that magnificent museum in Bloomsbury? As prime minister, Liz Truss followed these arguments.

Mr Sunak should not. This should not be about ownership but about where one can best appreciate the marbles, those in Athens and those in the British Museum. They belong together as an artistic whole and they belong in their natural habitat.

"Britain is isolated on the issue of the Parthenon Sculptures. Greece's request for reunification will remain on the table, as it has been for more than four decades since it was submitted to UNESCO. We will continue our campaign and urge Greece to continue asking the Museum's trustees and Britain to do what is right: return the sculptures, but not as loans, to their natural environment, the Acropolis Museum," Paul Cartledge, professor emeritus of Greek culture at Cambridge University and vice-chair of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Marbles (BCRPM), told TA NEA.

"It is very sad that Mr Sunak has cancelled his meeting with Mr Mitsotakis. The Parthenon Sculptures were just one of the topics for discussion, among other very important issues. The dialogue between Athens and the British Museum, the pressure on the British establishment and politicians must continue. I am confident that in the end a satisfactory solution will be found, acceptable to all parties," Dr. Chris Tytgat, President of the International Association for the Reunification of Sculptures (IARPS), told TA NEA.

To read the full article that was published in Ta Nea on 29 November in English, kindy follow the link here.