Professor Edward Porcella ’64 Brings Athenian Relic Back to Greece

Athens recovered a precious piece of Acropolis history last August, when alumnus and SMC Professor Emeritus Edward Porcella made a special delivery. Porcella paid a visit to the city’s Ephorate of Antiquities, where he met with archeologists to hand over an ancient marble fragment he’d been curating for over 20 years. The piece had been entrusted to him in 1992 by a family friend, who took it from the Acropolis during a visit in the sixties; preferring to pass along responsibility, she wanted to place the relic in safe hands.

A long-time faculty member in Saint Mary’s Integral Program (where his classes included ancient Greek and Philosophy), Porcella is also a longtime Hellenophile who has traveled extensively in Greece over the years—including two stints as a member of the Trireme rowing crew. He cherished the marble fragment for years, but knew that it should eventually be surrendered to its rightful custodians: “I decided it was time to return the piece to where it belongs. England, observe and follow my shining example!” #Elginmarbles

 Porcella reached out in 2020 to the Acropolis Museum, which met his proposal with open arms, but the global pandemic pushed plans back by a full year. In summer of 2021, he was finally able to board a flight for Europe...once TSA cleared the bulky item in his carry-on bag.

It was a hot, breezy day in Athens when Porcella and wife Karen were welcomed into the Ephorate offices, delivering the fragment and assisting as archeologists compiled a detailed chain-of-custody dossier.

The piece of marble had been taken near the Propylaia entrance and marked with the letter “E.” Porcella surmised that it was part of an Ionic capital volute and that excavators may have believed it to belong to the Erechtheion temple. The Greek archeologist who processed its return suggested it may be from a shallow vessel. Either way, Porcella hopes to stay in touch with the Ephorate as the mystery unravels and the fragment finds its final home.