Where do the Elgin marbles belong? 

Where should the Elgin marbles be on show? Their display in the Duveen gallery of the British Museum is not impressive.

To put it crudely, a Greek temple consisted of a sturdy shoe box surrounded by columns. The purpose of the shoe box (cella) was two-fold: to support the massive weight of the roof, and to provide a secure house for the god, represented by a statue, to live in. People did enter to venerate the statue, but the focus of worship was the altar outside.

The external view of the temple, then, was crucial. Visitors walking round the Parthenon saw 46 columns, around 34ft high, supporting a sequence of individual metopes (sculptures), just below the roof, unfolding before their eyes dramatic, colourful stories of gods and giants, Amazons, the fall of Troy, and at either end, triangular roof pediments featuring Athena and Poseidon.