Financial Times
November 3, 2011
Europa, in ancient Greek myth, was a maiden princess seduced by Zeus, the supreme god, who assumed the form of a white bull and whisked her off to Crete. In today’s European debt crisis it is open to question who is shafting whom.
When Greece joined Europe’s monetary union, it chose the Europa legend as the image to be emblazoned on one side of the 2-euro Greek coin. Happy were the days when ancient Greek civilisation was associated so smoothly with modern Europe.
Aside from the existential question of the eurozone’s survival, what is at stake in the debt crisis is nothing less than the European identity of contemporary Greek society. This would be put to a severe test if Greece were to tumble out of the eurozone and suffer the mother of all economic and social implosions.
Like people in other countries that lie on Europe’s fringes, such as Britain, Russia, Spain and Turkey, Greeks traditionally used to talk about “going to Europe” as if their country did not really belong to the continent. This world view was rooted in centuries of dark historical experiences.
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