Between Scylla and Haryvdis – The choice between bailout or a Grexit is like the sea monsters Scylla and Charybdis who assumed the forms of a rocky shoal and whirlpool at the Strait of Messina, between Sicily and the Italian mainland. When somebody is between Scylla and Harybdis they have to choose the lesser of two evils.
Draconian measures – Draco was a politician who codified the city-state’s laws in the 7th century BC but the punishments were overly harsh – much like the austerity measures to combat the Greek recession.
Herculean effort – In a confused state Hercules killed his own wife and children after the goddess Hera made him lose his mind. After waking from temporary insanity he had to redeem himself by performing twelve labors – difficult feats that they seemed practically impossible, much like the EU-dictated measures Greece has been called to implement. In Greek myth, virtuous struggle and suffering leads to fame and immortality. Will this be the case in Greece?
Melian Dialogue – Historian Thycydides – in his famous Melian Dialogue – refers to a long war between Athens and Sparta. Melos tried to keep neutrality despite Athens insistance that it join the alliance, noting that the powerful do what they want and the weak must accept it. Does this sound familiar?
Odyssey – It took Odysseus 10 years to return to his home in Ithaca after a number of pit stops and epic adventures, much like the Greek recession that is in its 6th year. Does this mean that there are a number of 4 years to go.
Pyrrhic victory – Alexis Tsipras successfully persuaded Greeks to reject austerity measures in the referendum but he now faces deeper austerity cuts much like King Pyrrhus of Epirus’ subduing of Roman forces in the Battle of Asculum (279 BC). After the loss of a number of men, Pyrrhus said that another such victory would ruin him.
Procrustean reforms – The reforms Greece is formed to make will do to society what Procrustes the giant did to his captives who he stretched to exactly span the length of his bed or chop off limbs. Like Procrustes bed, Greece is forced to adopt a one-size-fits-all approach.
Sisyphus – Greece has been forced to carry out the Sisyphean task of increasing austerity. Sisyphus was the ruthless king of Corinth who had the never-ending task of rolling a heavy stone up a hill only for it to roll back down again… much like the “success” of Bailout 1, 2 and 3. Former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis had noted that the correct strategy for Sisyphus would be to stop pushing the boulder rather than trying to get up the hill, in reference to Greek public debt.
Trojan Horse – German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble described a document Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis had submitted to the EuroWorkingGroup on February 20 as a ‘Trojan Horse’. In Homer’s Iliad, Greece won the war against Troy by constructing a huge wooden horse with a select force of men hidden inside to enter the city. He viewed creative vagueness as a Trojan Horse, but the truth is that – if anything – the plan seems to have backfired.
