give me back my marbles

As the new Acropolis Museum in Athens opens up tonight, I think of the words of our great Melina Mercouri over the Parthenon Marbles that reside in the British Museum.

'What does Shakespeare mean to England, St. Paul's Cathedral? What does the Taj Mahal mean to India? What do the paintings in the Sistine Chapel mean to Italy? The Parthenon Marbles are our pride, they are our identity. They are today's link with Greek excellence, they are creations synonymous with our concepts of democracy and freedom.'

MEGA TV in Greece also made a really interesting documentary on the British Museum's claim to the marbles, and I also found an interesting piece in the NY Times by Christopher Hitchins.

And now I go home to sleep.