robert brown : James Cuno embarrasses himself by making such a weak intellectual argument in opposing the return of the Parthenon Marbles. I would have expected better.

spacewhaler : Return everything to the original site and dedicate it to YANNI so he'll do more Acropolis concerts.

Sonia K : As a Greek I would like to thank you for this interesting conversation. I can't say I am being objective but really how much more lame can Mr Cuno's arguments get?

Connie Mourtoupalas : I could not believe my ears when I heard James Cuno say that it wouldn't matter whether the Parthenon Marbles were reunified in Greece, in London, or any other place. It is this kind of disregard for context that has led to the tremendous loss of historical and scientific knowledge about the world's heritage, as countless ancient artifacts are illegally torn from archaeological sites. Mr. Cuno, you make a very bad spokesperson for the British Museum's case.

Marcia : I understood that Lord Elgin removed the marbles to safeguard them from damage by explosives then housed in the Parthenon being accidentally set off. How is it that England/Great Britain OWNS them?? I thought they belonged to the people of Greece.

CT : I was also struck by the weakness of James Cuno's argument, not that I believe there is any possible good reason for not to restoring the stolen "Elgin Marbles" to their rightful owner. I found Cuno's obvious condescension unwarranted.

Solon : With the construction of the new Parthenon Museum there is no longer any excuse for the "Elgin" Marbles to remain in Britain. The next time I visit Athensm I hope to see them in their rightful home.

toni : Timely information as our book club will read 'Mistress of the Elgin Marbles' this August. Appreciated!

LanniLou : So now that Greece has finally decided to take an interest in their historical significance, it all has to go back to them? Were the Marbles taken as a result of a war crime? Did Britain invade Greece to rob them of their art and history? How exactly do the "Greek people" own them? I believe that if the gov't. of Greece really felt the need to boost their tourism by acquiring the Marbles they could come to an understanding with the British Museum that would be mutually beneficial to all concerned. It works better than name-calling and bullying disguised as intellectual discourse. If it wasn't for the care of the British Museum has given the Marbles they would be like much of Greece's history and be crumbled and scattered around the Acropolis...or perhaps buried under the new museum.

Eva Chrysanthe : Dear Lannilou, Please note that the "care" provided by the British of the Parthenon marbles included: 1) permanent damage to the Parthenon itself during the removal process, 2) irrevocable damage to the marbles due to British "cleaning" using extremely caustic substances, and 3) the near-loss of some of the sculptures when the ship which Elgin had hired sank to the bottom of the sea. It took two years to recover them. But all that is in the past. The trend is now to return a few particularly noteworthy "removed" artworks to the lands where they originated, as long as the country is able to care for them. This is especially relevant in light of the Parthenon marbles, as they were an essential part of the architecture. Unlike the turbulent era during which the Parthenon marbles were removed from Athens (you may recall that an impoverished Greece was then gearing up for its war of independence from the brutal Ottoman Empire), Greece is now more than capable of caring for the items that its people so greatly desire. This is not just about Greece and Britain. As you may be aware, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has returned an extremely valuable Greek vase to Italy, as the item was originally created in Greek-occupied Sicily during the classical era. I believe this was the right thing to do, although I will miss seeing the vase on my next trip to New York. I would also like to point out that your claim that the desire for the return of the marbles is all about "tourism" is sadly ignorant of the deep emotional attachment that modern Greeks feel for their own history and art, and especially those artworks created during the "golden age" of Greece. Generations of Greeks sustained themselves through difficult times through a fierce pride both in their more modern Balkan identity - and their proud classical inheritance. I am deeply grateful that modern Britons such as Mr. Hitchens have argued so passionately and so ethically for the return of the marbles. And I am not in the lest surprised that most Britons feel the marbles belong back in Greece. Britain has its own fantastic treasures, and should not feel the need to retain those of Greece. I was recently in Athens, and was approached by an Indian engineer who was profoundly moved by his visit to the Parthenon. I probably do not need to explain the sympathy that Indians, who were once subjected to the strange arguments for colonization by the British Empire, feel for tiny Greece on this particular point. My hope is that on his next visit to Athens, the engineer will be able to see the Parthenon marbles in their rightful home.

paul : I went to the new Acropolis Museum and tears came down to my face looking at the empty spots where marbles were removed by devious means and damaged in the process. Their full beauty and significance could not be grasped in the sanitized setting in the British Museum; they would come alive in Athens

Bill : The real meaning of refusing to return the marble art work is a failure to see that holding on to stolen art works keeps the art in an invalid context. Just as presenting fakes and representing them as real is 'stealing the artist's identity' presenting stolen art at an (automatically)invalid location is 'stealing the art's identity' and should be considered a disgrace by any self-respecting museum administration. Unfortunately, a great many museums don't seem to understand self-respect. They hold the old view of 'To the victor go the spoils'. Certainly members of the EU ought to treat each other better than this.

Rollus : James Cuno is really an intellectual lightweight. It would be interesting to see how this is played out since it could set an enormous precedent and many museums in Europe can suddenly find themselves losing a great deal of treasure. I am divided on this: justice in terms of property versus providing easier access to humanity's collective heritage. Maybe it is unjust in sense of "ownership" but fair in the sense of access to all in the wider context of all antiquity where returning them to their geographical origins would limit their access and not really fulfil their cultural origins completely.

Reva : Expected the point counterpoint to be longer; but it was good just the same. Wonder what Mr. Cuno & Mr. Hitchens would say if India asked the British government to return the Kohinoor diamond. The British were good at legal shams and swindles those days, which may have been the case with the Elgin Marbles. But history is what it is. Moreover (adding an extreme case to Mr. Cuno's point), Taliban & The Buddhas of Bamyan should give one pause regarding certainties about unchanging outlook on culture and heritage among the "original owners" of artifacts & treasures. Yes, Mr. Hitchens is correct: There is nothing to beat the sense of awe and elation that comes from seeing these noble edifices in their unified whole. However, most people visit pasts that are very much of their own imagination and the alien surroundings in which the material artifacts may be housed (in tact or restored) seem irrelevant to that experience. In this, the British Museum can take the visitor very far back and very far afield indeed! One more bright aside to visiting the British Museum: They do not charge entrance to see most of the loot:).

James H. : This should have gone on longer. It is accepted practice now to return, or call for the return of stolen or procured artifacts without question. Egypt, Greece, Italy, Turkey, Iraq, American Indian tribes, etc. have all called for the return of artifacts taken from them under questionable means. The marbles should be returned, but they won't because the Greeks don't really have a sweetner or stick.

Connie Mourtoupalas : RESPONSE TO LANI LOU: The Greeks did not just wake up and realized the importance of their heritage. THey have been asking for the Marbles since the early 1800s, practically since they were taken. When Elgin chiselled off the marbles, Greeks were under occupation. Elgin was reviled even in his own country. In addition, Greece spends a huge portion of its budget caring for and preserving countless archaeological sites, museums, etc., so that the world can come and enjoy them, as more than 13 million tourists do every year.

MIAMIGIRL : Lord Elgin did not remove the Parhtenon Marbles for safekeeping. He looted them so that he could adorn his house. When he went bankrupt he was foced to sell them to the British Museum. Now who do they belong to?

http://www.refuter.com : I think its worth it to return the marbles, so that room is free to display more art in the vaults of the british museum

Sonia Yagjian C. : Contrary to popular believe, Lord Elgin did not remove the artifacts for safekeeping. In fact, he intended to install it in his own mansion, but ended up repaying his tax debt to Britain by giving the marbles to the government. This is fact, not conjecture. The sheer massiveness of what was taken, in addition to the undeniable fact that the building still exists and the government of Greece has built a museum above reproach to house the marbles is an undoubtedly compelling argument to return the marbles, not only to the rightful owner/government, but to the rightful site.

Ioanna P. : Mr. Kuno exhibited an attitude of arrogance and disrespect towards the original architectural and historical integrity of a monument that stands as an aknowledged symbol of Western civilization, and that has been declared by the European Union as the most important European cultural heritage monument. It took almost a decade for Lord Elgin to hack and chisel out the heritage of occupied Greece (in order to protect it from future polution?!) It has already taken decades of intense but yet unresolved international focus on the issue, and the British arguments are becoming more flimsy and convoluted. In this PBS appearance, Mr. Kuno objects to the lack of representation of historical occupations connected to the Parthenon, and has not noticed how the Byzantine and Roman history of the Acropolis is preserved and presented both in the Roman theatre and under the impressive glass floor of the new museum. It may take another decade, but Mr. Kuno's persona and current debating points are not going to be strengthening any of the arguments against the re-unification of the Parthenon marbles.

Alex, L. : Mr. Kuno did not make a well-prepared argument but it is not to say that that the opponent of reunification is not at all baseless. Parthenon should have been preserved as it is in the end of the 19th century. The strongest argument the British Museum could have made is the issue of cultural patrimony. That the Hellenistic culture is the foundation of the Occidental identity and values, in the same way so was Roman and Egyptian. Elgin Marbles is also part of the British history. One of my favorite anecdote was that Melina Mercouri, the former Minister for Culture of Greece, recognize an Roman sculptural piece in the British Museum as Elgin Marbles.

Chris : I thought it was interesting that Cuno mentioned the "ownership" of the marbles in his justification for keeping them. If there is an issue of ownership, then there must be an issue of "Rights" or some sort of historical perspective on Greek culture that the British can lay claim to. Cuno needs to exemplify how their removal protects a perspective on Greek culture, otherwise I do not understand how a successful argument can be made for their ownership.

Rudy R. : I am a greek in my fifties and fervent student of our classical past. Up until now, I felt that it was better for the British Museum to keep the Marbles, because in this way, more people from around the world would be able to see and admire our ancient greek glory, something that 'buys' goodwill for my country, which lately is doing everything possible to lose any that's left... I found all my friends that I told them my point of view and reacted to it, narrow-minded or blinded by 'nationalistic' romanticism. But recently I visited the new Acropolis Museum. And my heart broke when I looked at the Parthenon outside the glass windows together with the Elgin-replicas. I really felt violated and humiliated. And now I hear this Mr. Kuno saying that the Acropolis was what it was "just for a few hundred years"! As if his civilization, just a couple of hundred years old, wouldn't mind if their landmark monument (pick any one reaching the Acropolis' importance to us Greeks) was desecrated and robbed and they could only see its parts in some other country which would keep them with an attitude, telling you also that you're not capable of taking care of it (while they've already damaged it badly!), hiding behind forced legal documentation. May the Great Obama enlighten you yankees! You've been over-Bushed and it's a shame. Because as the only superpower, you have responsibilities. We're supposed to look up to your living with ideals and justice!

Sylvester : While it is true that the Parthenon Marbles can be reassembled in any location, as Mr. Cuno stated, there is much to be said about them being reassembled in the new Acropolis museum. Were it not for the museum's recent construction, my argument would be in favor of the British Museum for the sake of the marbles' conservation. There is now, however, a very suitable environment for them to be displayed and cared for. Mr. Cuno's avoidance of the argument at hand only served to convince me further that there is no longer any reason for the marbles not to be returned to Greece.

Kathryn Gwyn : Rudy R., I caution you against making generalizations about Americans on the basis of one interview with one authority. Far from believing that the Marbles belong in London, most Americans, according to polls, have in fact never heard of the Elgin Marbles.

joe : Art works in museums throughout the world have been preserved and cared for with far more expertise than is available in many of their places of origin [the Afghani Budas are a case in point of what can happen when an unworthy custodian has control over the item]. This should not give the current keepers permanent rights over these artifacts. In the case where a country has the ability and desire to display the relics in their place of birth and give the locals a sense of national pride, arrangements should be made to accommodate them. Perhaps a replica of the item could be reproduced by descendants of the original creators be offered as replacements for any item that has been repatriated.