Parts of the sculptures that used to belong to the Parthenon are now residing within Britain’s Museum, and Christopher Hitchens argues that they be returned to Greece through his work entitled “The Lovely Stones.” Hitchens builds his argument by utilizing a short history of the incident and rhetorical questions. Hitchen’s recounts the history of why the sculptures landed in Britain’s hands in the first place—British ambassador Lord Elgin is the culprit, having sold “half the cast… [in order to] pay off his many debts.” In starting his claim with the short summary of the incident, Hitchen is able to enlighten the audience that Britain is wrongfully withholding the sculpture from its rightful owner; Greece is robbed from one of its finest works. …show more content…
Through the use of analogy with the Mona Lisa, Hitchens inquires the following question: “Would there not be a general wish to see what [the sculptures] might look life if re-united?” By generalizing the public’s opinion in the matter, he drags the audience into agreeing to the thinking that it’s only logical for one to be curious to how the entirety of the sculpture is. He also adds to this by later stating that “for the first time in centuries, how the Parthenon sculptures looked to the citizens of the old” will be shown in the new Acropolis Museum. This prompts the audience, and Britain, to see that the people are being deprived of witnessing the beauty of the sculptures that are currently under Britain’s possession hold. Because of its use of pathos, Hitchens is able to develop his argument for he’s prompting a response from the audience through it—the injustice done among the citizens of the world. It guilts people into facing the reality of as time passes, more and more people aren’t able to see such things within their lifetime. This that not only is it a crime consisting of the legal ties to the sculptures, but also of a responsibility where it’s only morally right to return these sculptures to Greece in order for others to witness its unification with its rightful
Henri Regnault's Automedon with the Horses of Achilles looms large in the East wing of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts. The painting is over ten feet by ten feet in area and is truly spectacular. It is impossible to miss this massive work of art when walking through the hall. The painting is encased by a beautiful wooden frame and hangs in between many other outstanding paintings. This paper will cover a description of the painting, the meaning of the painting, and the background of how the painting was brought to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston.
The Parthenon embraces its beauty in human history , however , it imprisons its misuse and abuse in addition. In Christopher Hitchens’s , “The Lovely Stones” , he builds an argument to persuade the audience that the original Parthenon Sculptures should be returned to Greece . Christopher Hitchens uses negative diction , cultural references , and the rhetorical appeal , logos , to strengthen his argument .
Hitchens, Christopher. The Elgin Marbles: Should They be Returned to Greece? London; New York: Verso, 1998.
The Marble Grave Stele is a horizontal piece that was embedded in a larger piece of marble. The inscriptions of the names of who died have long been lost. Thus, we must interpret for ourselves what the full meaning of the piece is. The artist of the piece is unknown, but it was constructed in Greece in around 360 B.C. during the Classical Era and stands at 171.1 centimeters in height. Its original location, as its name suggests, was at a gravesite; currently, it is located in New York City at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Stele was carved from marble. Overall, it is in good condition; however, the body of the woman on the left is missing with only her head surviving. Its stone frame in which it was set is also missing. This frame more than lik...
For years on end, countries have been fighting with big museums from other countries for ancient artifacts that belong to the original countries. The argument of whether or not the museums should be able to keep them still remains. It is the right of the country to have their own artifacts. It is imperative for countries to be able showcase their historical artifacts, therefor museums should return them to their rightful owners.
Christopher Hitchens meticulously argues that the original Parthenon sculptures should be returned to Greece. His argument becomes powerful through providing factual evidence, such as facts and examples to qualify his claim. He uses truth, backed by reliable sources; to infiltrate the reader's independent mind. Furthermore, the author makes use of stylistic elements such as rhetorical devices, appeals to emotion, and word choice to effectively convince the reader. Finally, the author employs carful reasoning to connect his evidence and stylistic elements to the thesis of this
...r. "Ancient Greece." Gardner's art through the ages the western perspective. 13th ed., Backpack ed. Boston, Mass.: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2010. 101, 123,129. Print.
Heinrich Schliemann was a German businessman and an amateur archeologist who had a fascination with the work of the ancient Greek poet Homer (2). His belief that the work of Homer was more than a legend would one day lead him to discover the city of Troy and the Mycenae burial circles containing several golden masks. He believed one mask in particular belonged to King Agamemnon, the hero in Homer’s epic poem the Iliad who lead the Greeks into the city of Troy (5). Yet inconsistencies in the mask compared to others found and Schliemann’s questionable ethics would lead to an ongoing controversy over is now referred to as the “Mask of Agamemnon”.
...best case for the retention of the British Benin sculptures is to accord them the unique status they deserve as exceptional artworks and exhibit them appropriately in a prestigious national art gallery, for everyone to appreciate fully.
In his description of past events, Christopher Hitchens expresses his disagreement and distaste of the desecration and damages done to historical relics of Greece. Hitchens believes that historical works of art should be perfectly preserved and presented artistically, and not to be harmed in any way. To support his perspective, Hitchens includes emotional imagery and descriptive word choice.
...ity in Classical Athens. New York, NY: Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation (USA) in Collaboration with the National Archaeological Museum, Athens, 2008. Print.
"Should Britain Return the Elgin Marbles?" The Week UK. N.p., 14 Feb. 2009. Web. 13 Feb.
In the story, Tom is faced with having a different view on things than the rest of society does. The people in the community only seek revenge because of everything that happened to them in the past, making them and the next generations follow along with what everyone else is doing. Each and every single person views the situation in the same way- they don’t see the beauty inside, they continue to stay with the same thinking that has been given to them. Like mentioned before, these people only have their eyes opened but not their hearts. Tom, on the other hand, has a different perception on the situation and not only uses his eyes, but as well as his heart. When he uses his heart, he sees the beauty in the painting, whether the portrait is real or not. He doesn’t just identify the painting of Mona Lisa has something from the past, but he also sees it as something that contains true beauty
In “Whose Culture Is It, Anyway? ”, Kwame Anthony Appiah begins by pointing out that some of the museums of the world, particularly in the West, have large collections of artefacts and objects which were robbed from developing and poor countries. He then raises a question: who owns these cultural patrimony and properties? Our first answer may be that since they make up the cultural heritage of a people, they belong to the people and culture from whom they were taken. Appiah has doubt about this and argues that if some cultural artefacts are potentially valuable to all human beings, they should belong to all of humanity. He thinks that when they make contribution to world culture, they should be protected by being made available to those who would benefit from experiencing them and put into trusteeship of humanity.
The world of Art and Architecture has continually provided the tools to communicate many differing concepts or ideas such as political ideologies like socialism to simple folk-tales or intricate narratives. The elements of Greek Art and Architecture and its direct connection to mythology is the main focus of this essay. I will present the comparison of a "new" representation of a Greek Temple used in the set design of, The Clash of the Titans; to the original where its influence is traced to the classic of all Greek Temples, the Parthenon. By illustrating this comparison of new to original, I hope to communicate the idea of how contemporary society has attempted to retell mythology through entertainment outlets.