The First Line (Πρόμαχος)

Make Athena your goddess and love.

We have heard the arguments,

and we have established the facts.

We now all await the resolved voice of this court.

The Elgin Marbles are in the lawful and rightful possession

of the British Museum.

I am here today on behalf of the people of Greece

and on behalf of the woman I love.

And I beseech you all of a serious crime.

So, is it good?

You recall the Hunt Letter.

The first line of the second paragraph states in Italian, and I quote:

"We therefore have written this letter to you and expedited it by N. N."

It is undated and does not bear a signet.

Now look what I've just discovered.

This is the Ottoman letter that was translated from Italian into Turkish

to be approved by the Grand Vizier himself.

It was long thought to have disappeared...

until now.

Look here-- at the bottom it is signed by a wax signet

confirmed to be by Seged Abdullah and is dated July 9, 1801.

But more importantly, it identifies the courier as Mehmed Rashid Aga.

Take a look at this copy of the letter

that Reverend Hunt submitted to Parliament in 1816.

This is the solitary proof that the British Museum has used

to maintain possession of the Parthenon Marbles for the last 200 years.

The first line of the second paragraph reads, and I quote:

"We therefore have written this letter to you

and expedited it by Mr. Philip Hunt,

an English gentlemen, secretary of the aforesaid Ambassador, Lord Elgin."

"Move your hand...

and Athena will help you."

This is a forgery.

I knew it all had to be a lie right from the beginning.

With these three documents, we can prove the Parthenon Marbles

were stolen and illegally traded artifacts

and currently remain as falsely possessed property within the British Museum.

Bull Leaper...

You have the scent of blood in your nostrils.

Have you briefed Eleni on all of this yet?

I'm meeting her right after this.

It's getting worse out there.

Every day now it seems to be getting worse.

Andreas, I brought you in because of your reputation for results,

and so far you have given me some reason to hope again.

But as chaos breaks upon the foot of my temple of ethos,

I also have reason to hesitate.

I can win this.

That's your problem, my friend.

Justice is what the people want,

and it is what I want.

Remember how it used to be?

Not really.

I don't know what brought me back here.

May you have eyes in the back of your head.

So it's fallen to us.

I'd say its about time that someone took a stand for true justice.

May you have eyes in the back of your head.

If we're not careful, the British will chop us up

and put us on display in the Duveen Gallery.

You look better in one piece.

Athens is a place of tumult and uncertainty.

It is rife with corruption and anarchy.

We cannot allow these priceless treasures of history

to fall into the wrong hands at a time like this.

The people of Athena used to be able to look up at their Acropolis,

the safe haven high above the city,

and know that a sacred force protected them and inspired them

to serve a higher cause than their base inclinations...

in the temple of virgin truth.

It was Shelley who said that we are all Greeks now.

Let us do what we can to honor that sentiment today.

We owe the fundamentals of our culture to the ancient Athenians.

Their legacy is just as much ours today

as it is even to the current inhabitants of Athens.

Even though they seem to dishonor the hallowed city

by covering it with graffiti and garbage.

That cherished legacy should not be taken away

from an institution that can carry it forward.

The Grecian columns that hold up this very building

symbolize the structural fortitude required to uphold international justice.

And yet the people of Hellas are today discriminated

as the lower class of Europe.

This may be intentional or it may be unconscious,

but either way the effect is destructive.

To this day, even the name "Elgin Marbles"

obscures the Marbles' history,

and the disordered arrangement in which the Marbles are displayed

betrays the ignorance to the story that is told in the stone.

I am an island.

With your voices resolve this.

Ensure that the fate of the Marbles is certain,

that they remain on display so that our children may stand before them

that they may forever dream of that elusive ideal.

Yes.

Okay.

This man is not accustomed to asking for help.

Thank you for your support.

Yes.

This bull can find his way through the labyrinth.

Consider it done.

And despite the current financial crisis

and ongoing civil unrest in Athens,

the Greek Cultural Ministry and the Acropolis Museum

have decided to launch a controversial and sudden litigation effort

against the British Museum for the return of the Elgin Marbles.

The legal effort is being led by newly appointed

-New York Greek American attorney... - No, that won't be necessary.

Andreas Orestis...

I just made some compelling discoveries myself that will prove to be decisive.

...serving on behalf of the ministry, Eleni Arapkiles.

Like I said before, all I can say at this time

is that I'm in the process of building the case for the return.

On the opposing side, famed defense council Callum Stevenson

is representing the BM

following his recent victories against the Egyptian...

-Thank you. -Turkish, and Syrian governments

over art repatriation claims.

And a previously unknown Ottoman document has surfaced

that is said to delegitimize the BM's claim to the famous sculptures.

All rise.

Be seated.

Your Lordship, I would like to present the court

with three incriminating documents

that implicate the counter-party and contest the ownership

of the so-called Elgin Marbles.

Please state your full name for the record.

Richard Detweiller.

Are you employed by the British Museum?

I am.

What is your position?

Her Majesty's representative,

the keeper of the Roman, Egyptian, Asiatic, and Greek antiquities

at the British Museum, Great Russell Street, London.

And how long have you been so employed?

Thirty-nine years.

You are familiar, sir, with the sculptures known as the Parthenon Marbles?

I am familiar with Lord Elgin's collection, yes.

Under what authority does the British Museum retain

this collection in perpetuity?

If I was to be asked so bluntly, sir, by act of Parliament.

By act of Parliament,

are you referring to the settling of Elgin's debt by the assembly in 1816?

No. I am referring to the bestowal of the antiquities by the British people

upon the museum for safekeeping and restoration.

So this gives the right of possession?

Yes...

in perpetuity.

Let me ask you this: if someone stole from you

and then sold your property to someone else,

don't you think that you would have some grounds

-to ask for it back? -Such impunity.

Answer the question.

The Marbles were not stolen, sir.

Lord Elgin's collection was lawfully obtained with permission

from none other than the highest authority of the Ottoman Empire.

Document number one:

the Hunt Letter.

Can you identify this document?

Yes, it's the Hunt Letter.

That's right.

What does the Hunt Letter state?

Uh, the Hunt Letter states the permission granted to Lord Elgin

to remove the sculptures from the Acropolis

where the Parthenon resides.

Can you refer me specifically to the part that says that?

Don't be absurd. It's written in Italian.

That's right.

Then if I may quote a translation from your office,

the letter makes a request for permission to "contemplate,

mold, and measure" the sculptures.

Remove?

Yes, but that 's not the only clause in the letter.

The following clause is of particular note.

Ah. I'm glad that you brought that up, Mr. Detweiller.

I'll read it to you.

It declares that while they may, quote:

"dig the foundations to find inscribed bricks

which may have been preserved in the rubbish,

when they wish to take away some pieces of stone

with old inscriptions and figures that no opposition be made."

Now, as an expert in the caring and management of ancient antiquities,

could you tell me what "bricks" they were referring to?

It's not particularly specific.

I think that this document sounds more like a permission letter

for sailors on a Grecian holiday, than a license to loot ancient artifacts.

Wouldn't you agree?

Mr. Orestis, I believe you've made your point.

I am neither nautically inclined, nor do I take my holidays in Greece,