Stephen Fry calls for British Musuem to lose its marbles

Tim Clark12 June 2012

Stephen Fry’s plea to restore the Eglin Marbles to Greece has been backed in a debate over the future of the relics in London.

Fry had backed a motion over whether the classical sculptures – which have resided in the British Museum since Lord Elgin bought them to Britian in the 19th Century – should be returned to their homeland.

Speaking to the audience in Cadogan Hall, Fry said "no matter how much the sovereign debt crisis means they owe us, we will never repay the debt that we owe Greece."

According to Fry, the British Museum should in future replace the real Elgin Marbles with a ‘Parthenon experience’ which would show visitors how the UK curated the relics before handing them over to the Acropolis Museum in Athens.

Arguing against returning the Marbles was MP Stephen Hunt, who said that the collection at the British Museum is a unique collection which allows many different cultures to be compared.

Fry has been a passionate supporter of returning the marbles to Greece, earlier this year he backed a campaign saying : "The Hellenic republic today is in heart-rending turmoil, a humiliating sovereign debt crisis has brought Greece to the brink of absolute ruin.

“This proud, beautiful nation for which Byron laid down his life is in a condition much like the one for which he mourned when they [the Greeks] were under the Ottoman yoke in the early 19th century,"

"What greater gesture could be made to Greece in its appalling finance distress? An act of friendship, atonement and an expression of faith in the future of the cradle of democracy would be so, well just so damned classy."

The debate, which was hosted by Intelligence Squared, ended with a majority for the motion of 384 to 125.

BBC: Stephen Fry's Parthenon Marbles plea backed in debate vote