On the latest episode of the Ouzo Talk Podcast, Stephen Fry commented again on the debate over the return of the Parthenon Marbles. The English actor, writer, and comedian is confident that a deal is imminent.
“It’s going to happen – I promise you it will happen. It’s maddeningly slow,” Fry told Ouzo Talk co-hosts Tom Skolarikis and Nick Athanassiou.
“Lisa Nandy, the new Culture Secretary under the recently elected Labour Government that we have in England at the moment – she’s very sympathetic to it, I know.
“There’s been a real problem of ping-pong between Parliament saying, ‘it’s not up to us – it’s up to the trustees of the British Museum’, and The British Museum saying, ‘oh, it’s not our fault because there’s an Act of Parliament’.
Fry famously debated on the BBC’s Intelligence Squared program in 2012, arguing for the motion to ‘send them back.’ His stance on the issue ultimately served to endear him to Greeks globally. Fry echoed those same sentiments on Ouzo Talk.
“It could be such a win-win for the British Museum,” Fry re-stated.
“It is genuinely 99% of everything The British Museum holds is out of sight. All you see is one per cent. That’s how much they have, so it’s not as if they will run out of things to show.
“But the Duveen Gallery where the Parthenon Marbles are – what you can do with Lidar and laser and so on is re-casting and having an exact copy: every pit and every pore of the marble.
“With the newest generations of (VR) glasses, you can see how the Parthenon Marbles came in the early 19th century over the sea and what they looked like in London, and then you can see them being packed up and getting into crates. And you can get drone shots of the train going through Europe down into Greece. You would see the huge crowds gathered outside the new Acropolis Museum in Athens.
“The Prime Minister and President of the Hellenic Republic would be there with the King of England and the Prime Minister of England, shaking hands as you watch these things go into the spaces where they belong.
“It would be a classy act on the part of the British, and we would be admired for it. It would not be a slippery slope to getting rid of everything else. Everyone knows the special, exceptional meaning of the Parthenon.”
Athanassiou and Skolarikis also quizzed Fry about King Charles’s stance on the issue, with Fry being well-known for sharing a long, friendly relationship with the reigning Monarch.
King Charles recently concluded a whirlwind trip to Australia, where he wore a Greek flag tie on the final day of the trip in a nod to his Greek ancestry. King Charles’ father, Prince Philip, was born on the Greek island of Corfu at the Palace of Mon Repos in June 1921 – a fact that Fry says made the British public label him ‘Phil the Greek’ after he married the then-Princess Elizabeth before her ascent to the throne.
“I haven’t been able to ask his opinion on the Parthenon Marbles – at least I’ve been able to but have decided not to,” said Fry.
“It’s unfair on him; if he were quoted, it would get him in trouble.”
Fry’s comments add to the Ouzo Talk Podcast’s growing body of work on the return of the Parthenon Marbles. The Australian-based podcast has previously published two episodes dedicated to the topic.
In 2021, Ouzo Talk published its first episode on the Marbles, in which it welcomed Emmanuel John Comino AM, Founder and Chair of the International Committee—Australia—for the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles Inc.
In 2023, the podcast followed up with an episode entitled ‘Defying the British Museum to scan the Parthenon Marbles’, in which they hosted Roger Michel, Founder and Executive Director of the Institute for Digital Archaeology, and Alexy Karenowska, Director of Technology.
Ouzo Talk is a podcast that dives into Greek culture, history, and lifestyle, often exploring topics from Greek identity and traditions to contemporary Greek issues and perspectives. Hosted by Tom Skolarikis and Nick Athanassiou, the podcast has a relaxed, conversational style, much like a friendly chat over a glass of ouzo. Each episode frequently features special guests, such as authors, artists, historians, and prominent members of the Greek-Australian community.
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