The Elgin Marbles

As Greece prepares for the return of the Olympic Games, Andrew Graham-Dixon turns his attention to the rise and fall of aristocrat and ambassador Lord Elgin, whose obsession with the fabled sculptures he removed from the Parthenon in the early 1800s utterly destroyed his life. Computer imagery and dramatic reconstructions reveal the Marbles' story, from their creation in 5BC to the bitter row that ensued when they were taken out of Greece, while those on both sides of the debate offer their thoughts on where the ancient artefacts truly belong