Pappas, Bilirakis Lead Bipartisan Call Urging Continued Progress on Negotiations to Return Parthenon Marbles to Greece

Today Congressmen Chris Pappas (NH-01) and Gus Bilirakis (FL-12), Co-Chairs of the Congressional Hellenic Caucus, led a letter calling on Great Britain to return to the negotiation table in discussions about returning the Parthenon Marbles to Greece.

“Today we write to you as members of the Congressional Hellenic Caucus, urging British officials to return to earnest discussions with Greece over the reunification of the Parthenon Sculptures. The return to their historic and natural setting would be lauded and celebrated worldwide, and we call for the resumption of robust negotiations to that end,” wrote the lawmakers.

They continued, “... it is past time that they return home to be reunified with the rest of the sculptures from which they were ripped apart. This will allow visitors to view and appreciate them in totality as part of a greater whole in their natural and rightful environment.” 

Background:

The Marbles were created in Athens by Pheidias and were part of a frieze that wrapped around the Temple of Athena. More than 200 years ago the Marbles were removed from Greece by Thomas Bruce, seventh Earl of Elgin and transported to Great Britain. In 1816, the British Parliament voted to purchase the Marbles and they now reside in the British Museum. Despite years of efforts by the Greek Government to retain the Marbles, it has been unable to negotiate an agreement with its British counterparts to return the Marbles to Greece. In recent weeks, negotiations between Greece and the United Kingdom on this important cultural matter have deteriorated.

View the letter here.