The Elgin Marbles should be sent around the world as “ambassadors” for Hellenic culture rather than being solely sent back to Athens, according to a leading British Museum trustee.
Dame Mary Beard said the question of whether the marbles should go back to Greece or stay in London “makes the poor old marbles into a child in a messy divorce case”.
Beard, who once chose the marbles as her luxury item on the BBC’s Desert Island Discs, told a Times Plus debate at the museum on Monday that she thought they should be “shared more generously with Greece”.
The panel, including Beard, Munira Mirza, David Olusoga and Rory Stewart, discussed the question “Who owns the past?” It was hosted by Matthew Parris, centre
JOSHUA BRATT FOR THE TIMES
But she added: “I want them to be shared with the world. I would like the Parthenon Marbles being ambassadors for a particular sort of Hellenic
