The Elgin Affair: The Abduction of Antiquity's Greatest Treasures and the Passions it Aroused [Hardcover]

Theodore Vrettos (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 30, 1997

Recounts the nineteenth-century abduction of the Elgin Marbles, ancient Greek statues that now reside in the British Museum, in a story that features Napoleon, Lady Hamilton, Lord Byron, Keats, and other famous figures."

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Few arts controversies have inflamed passions as long as have Lord Elgin's removal of the sculptures and friezes from the Parthenon. The treatment of the Elgin Marbles evoked strong feelings by celebrities from Lord Byron to Melina Mercouri. In this work, Vrettos for the third time undertakes to tell how the ancient sculptures found their way from Athens to the British Museum. He first took up the story with a nonfiction account (A Shadow of Magnitude, LJ 10/15/74) and fictionalized it eight years later (Lord Elgin's Lady, LJ 5/1/82). His new work reads much like a novel, with detailed descriptions of protagonists' attire and weather conditions. In fact, it is a re-serving of his earlier nonfiction effort; it makes a fine, light introduction to the subject but must defer to William St. Clair's Lord Elgin and the Marbles (1967) as the definitive scholarly treatment. Recommended for general readers and public libraries.?Paul Burnam, Ohio Wesleyan Univ. Libs., Delaware
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Less concerned with ethics than with narrative, novelist Vrettos (Lord Elgin's Lady, 1982, etc.) chronicles the odyssey of the so-called Elgin Marbles from Athens to London against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars. Vrettos undermines his story's colorful firsthand material, such as diplomatic correspondence and Lady Elgin's letters, by awkwardly adding some novelistic touches with dialogue and scene- setting--superfluous in any case, for the material is colorful enough. Having survived Roman and Gothic invasions of Greece, the works of the ancient sculptor Phidias had fared badly under the Byzantines, Venetians, and Turks before Elgin, a Scottish diplomat obsessed with classical art, absconded with them in 1802. Justifying his right to their removal as negotiated with the Ottoman Porte, Lord Elgin contemptuously observed that ``modern Greeks have looked upon the superb works of Pheidias with ingratitude and indifference. They do not deserve them!'' In many ways, Elgin had more difficulty returning to England than did his loot. Caught at the outbreak of war, he was held hostage in Paris and the Pyrenees, in part because Napoleon wanted the celebrated sculptures for the Louvre. Before Elgin could arrange his return, Byron, who was to die fighting for Greek independence, castigated him as ``the last, the worst, dull spoiler'' of the Parthenon. Elgin came back to England only to find Parliament unenthusiastic about purchasing the treasures for the British Museum. He had to marshall support from the English art community while fending off bankruptcy and divorcing his long-suffering wife for adultery. But while Vrettos has a remarkable story to tell, he does not entirely unearth its characters' odd lives and complex motives. (16 pages b&w illustrations, not seen) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Arcade Publishing; 1st edition (July 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1559703865
• ISBN-13: 978-1559703864
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,539,786 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Vrettos sheds light on an interesting topic, July 21, 1998

By 

Amy Battis (Beverly, MA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Elgin Affair: The Abduction of Antiquity's Greatest Treasures and the Passions it Aroused (Hardcover)

It is obvious from even a cursory read of this book that Theodore Vrettos did an incredible amount of research. Fortunately for the reader, the story does not suffer from overindulgence in mere historical fact, as there are plenty of extremely personal anecdotes which keep the story moving at an even pace.

It is amazing that Elgin (barely) made it through this escapade alive, and more so that he didn't make a dime from "acquiring" antiquities from ancient cultures which, in his opinion, could neither appreciate nor adequately tend to these treasures. That the battle to possess the marbles continues to this day is testament to the passions of the people involved.

My one complaint with the book as a whole was the last chapter, entitled "The Trial." Don't let it fool you, Elgin wasn't brought to trial for theft, as he should have been. The trial in question is that of his wife's lover, on trial for adultery. I found the inclusion of this rather! lengthy chapter not pertinent to the story of the marbles; it would've ended the book just as well to merely point out the financial losses Elgin suffered without the detail of the trial. Otherwise, this is well written and an educational read.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing story of greed, lust and devine retribution., June 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Elgin Affair: The Abduction of Antiquity's Greatest Treasures and the Passions it Aroused (Hardcover)

This historically accurate book does not need any pondering of motives, but the facts themselves are so bizarre and amazing, you are free to draw your own conclusion. Imagine being a nemesis of Napolean Bonaparte. Even though the gods deigned to punish Elgin from day one, he was single-minded in his pursuit to obtain the equities he alone decided should be taken from their origins. Enjoy the ride of greed, lust and devine retribution. It's thought provoking and certainly envokes a passionate response.