Hellenism

During an official dinner held in honor of the Prince of Wales on Wednesday night, President Prokopis Pavlopoulous broached the issue of the Parthenon Marbles, which are currently housed in the British Museum, and their return to Greece. 

Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos hailed the positive contribution that Greeks living abroad have made to the promotion of the country’s major objectives, in a statement released on Tuesday on the occasion of the Christmas holidays and the New Year.

A competition, titled “The Day They Came Home”, invites writers to create a fictional narrative of the reunification of the Parthenon Marbles with Greece.

Writers are asked to describe how they imagine  the event will occur, touching on issues such as Greek nationalism, diplomacy with the British, how the marbles would be returned, and how Hellenism would be affected.

Greek Parliament may not have a special committee for the Friends of the Parthenon, but Australian lawmakers do! On Wednesday, Australian Opposition Leader Bill Shorten joined more than 60 Australian MPs and leaders of the New South Wales community to launch the Parliamentary Friends of the Parthenon group.

An interesting exhibition is currently running at the B. & M. Theocharakis Foundation, in Athens, focusing on Philhellenism, the European trend of sympathy for the struggling Greece during its war of Independence, as its was expressed through art.