Economist: Parthenon Marbles May Return to Greece on Loan in 2025
The Parthenon Marbles, the 2,500-year-old sculptures that are at the center of the world’s most famous dispute over cultural property, may return to Greece in 2025 but only as a loan, according to The Economist‘s World Ahead 2025 report.
Referred to as the Elgin Marbles in Britain, they were removed from the Parthenon in the 19th century by Lord Elgin, then British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and transported to Britain, where they were purchased by the British Museum in 1816. To this day, they are a centerpiece of the museum’s permanent collection in London. Greece, which accuses Lord Elgin of theft, has been persistently asking for the Parthenon Marbles’ return to Greece since it gained its independence in 1821. So far, all its efforts have been unsuccessful.
“But in 2025, the marbles may finally be on the move—or, at least negotiations about their status may take a big step forward,” The Economist said, adding that “Greece has publicly rejected anything less than a full ownership, but a swap of some kind remains the most realistic outcome.”
That would mean that Greece would exchange other valuable artifacts with the British Museum, which would have to remain in London until the Greek government ships the loaned Parthenon Marbles back to Britain. The British publication provides no explanation as to why Greece would now accept the idea of a loan, something that it has repeatedly turned down.
A short history of rejections and obstacles for the Marbles’ return to Greece
George Osborne, the chairman of the British Museum is the one who has raised the idea of a loan with collateral as a shared partnership. Along with Nicholas Cullinan, the British Museum’s new director, they have indicated that they are open to this idea, but Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has rejected it. Museum officials have also said a loan would require Greece to give up ownership of the marbles, something that Greece has also rejected.
A major obstacle to the dispute seems to be the 1963 Museum Act, which prohibits the return of the Parthenon Marbles. The law states that the museum’s Board of Trustees of the British Museum cannot “remove or return any object from the collection unless it is a duplicate, physically damaged, ‘unfit to remain in the collection,’ or no longer of public interest.”
Supporters of the Marbles’ repatriation point out that the British Prime Minister could change the law, though current Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he wouldn’t stand in the way, and there’s no indication that he’d bring it to a vote in parliament.
Public opinion on the Marbles in the UK
Public opinion in Britain has shifted throughout the years, with more and more British saying the Parthenon Marbles should be unconditionally returned to Greece. According to a YouGov survey in 2023, 49 percent of responders supported their repatriation while only 15 percent believed they should stay in London.
The British Museum’s long-standing argument had been that it was the best and safest place to house the Marbles. Yet, they are displayed in a dark room with a leaky roof while Athens has said it would house them in a sun-lit gallery within the Acropolis Museum right next to the Parthenon. Moreover, the British Museum’s reputation was recently undermined by a scandal involving a museum employee stealing thousands of antiquities.
“The idea that the British Museum is the only competent custodian for the marbles has always seemed slightly spurious, even more so after one of its staff was accused of pilfering almost 2,000 antiquities and selling them on eBay,” The Economist report noted.
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