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Parthenon Gets the Museum It Deserves

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 17, 2009 1:52 PM CDT
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(Newser) – The Parthenon has been called the one “absolutely right” building on the planet, and it now has a fitting memorial, Christopher Hitchens writes in Vanity Fair. Hitchens is among the first to visit the new Acropolis Museum in Athens, and it does not disappoint. Artifacts, expert reproductions, and a stunning view of the Parthenon are key. The one problem is what isn’t there.

Half of a central frieze is in London, the victim of colonial looting. But though “the British may continue in their constipated fashion to cling to what they have so crudely amputated,” Hitchens writes, other European nations “have seen the artistic point of re-unification and restored to Athens what was looted.” For now it’s good enough, “and one day, surely, there will be an agreement to do the right thing by the world’s most ‘right’ structure.”

The New Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece.
The New Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece.   (AP Photo)
A woman walks past copies of the 2,500-year-old Parthenon frieze sculptures in the New Acropolis Museum in Athens.
A woman walks past copies of the 2,500-year-old Parthenon frieze sculptures in the New Acropolis Museum in Athens.   (AP Photo)
A tiny fragment from the 2,500-year-old sculptured decoration of the Parthenon Temple on the ancient Acropolis, returned by the Vatican.
A tiny fragment from the 2,500-year-old sculptured decoration of the Parthenon Temple on the ancient Acropolis, returned by the Vatican.   (AP Photo)
Workers and archaeologists are silhouetted against the ancient Parthenon temple in the New Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece.
Workers and archaeologists are silhouetted against the ancient Parthenon temple in the New Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece.   (AP Photo)
A man walks past copies of the 2,500-year-old Parthenon frieze sculptures in the New Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece.
A man walks past copies of the 2,500-year-old Parthenon frieze sculptures in the New Acropolis Museum in Athens, Greece.   (AP Photo)
Tourists visit the 2,500-year-old Parthenon Temple.
Tourists visit the 2,500-year-old Parthenon Temple.   (AP Photo)
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At any time, you can turn your head to look up and across at the architectural context for which the originals were so passionately carved. At last it will be possible to see the building and its main artifacts in one place and on one day. - Christopher Hitchens

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COMMENTS
Showing 1 of 1 comment
Timinator2K
Jun 17, 2009 7:00 AM CDT
On one hand, IF the Brits gave the Parthenon friezes back to the Greek government, their credibility would go waaay up in the world community. On the other hand, they'd set a world-wide precedent of returning everything they have back to every country that wants to reclaim their treasures. Best to bite the bullet and give their sh*t back to'em...its the right thing to do.

 
art museum • Christopher Hitchens • colonialism • Athens • Acropolis • ancient Greece • Parthenon • frieze

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