Abstract
This paper links several threads connected to Byron‟s least regarded Turkish Tale. Why, when the English Parliament decided in June 1816 to purchase the Elgin Marbles for the British Museum, did Byron appear to be silent on a subject that he had expressed strong feelings about some years earlier? Why, when he attacked Lord Elgin on the Parthenon marbles, did he not link him in infamy with Francesco Morosini, who had fired the shot that blew up the Parthenon? And why, in The Siege of Corinth, did Byron intentionally depart from the account in his historical source?My paper argues that The Siege of Corinth, one of his Turkish Tales that includes a conflict between Venetians and Turks, a siege, and an explosion, contains within it Byron‟s reflections on these issues The Siege of Corinth, in short, has more layers than have previously been explored.
Highlights
Among the public comments on the purchase and display of the marbles by the British Museum was the poem Modern Greece and the Elgin Marbles (1817; later entitled Modern Greece) by the poet Felicia Hemans, who, supportive of the acquisitions of the marbles, wrote: And who may grieve that, rescued from these [Turkish] hands, Spoilers of excellence and foes to art, Thy relics, Athens, borne to other lands, Claim homage still to thee from every heart? [871-74]
Susan Wolfson has suggested that Hemans “entered the Elgin marbles debate to contest the view advanced in Childe Harold II” [160]
The poet knew some of the people who offered public comment or who had been called as witnesses
Summary
Among the public comments on the purchase and display of the marbles by the British Museum was the poem Modern Greece and the Elgin Marbles (1817; later entitled Modern Greece) by the poet Felicia Hemans, who, supportive of the acquisitions of the marbles, wrote: And who may grieve that, rescued from these [Turkish] hands, Spoilers of excellence and foes to art, Thy relics, Athens, borne to other lands, Claim homage still to thee from every heart? [871-74].
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