Historically, the Greeks are known for their determined resistance and one event that epitomises this is commemorated on October 28th each year. Grand military parades sweep across the major cities. Considering all men are still required for national service, the fervent flag waving and saluting from the crowd shows the emotional connection many citizens still feel for the army. It is known as ‘Oxi day’ after the determined resistance of Ioannis Metaxas against Mussolini’s request to occupy strategic points in Greece unopposed during WWII. Metaxas’ response to the ultimatum issued to him was ‘Then it is war’ but Athens quickly shortened it to the laconic simple ‘No’ (Oxi). From this moment on, the Greek media was free no more and was to show the propaganda of the Third Reich until liberated by the Allies on October 12th 1944. 

Speaking of laconic, the Lacadaemonians (or Spartans as they are better known to us) gave a similar response to the Persian King Xerxes who asked for ‘earth and water’ as a symbol of subservience to Persia. Their refusal, along with several other Greek city states led to the infamous Persian invasion of Greece in 480BC.

I think these stories were in the minds of Alexis Tsipras and Yannis Varoufakis who led the 5^th July 2015 referendum that asked the Greeks whether they were going to accept the conditions of the bailout offered by the vilified ‘Troika’ (the European Commission (EC), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Central Bank (ECB) at the height of the country’s debt crisis. One word could be seen pasted on posters and scribbled on graffiti all over Athens – “OXI”.

But this story did not have the ending Tsipras and Varoufakis wanted – they may have seen themselves as heroes emulating Leonidas at Thermopylae but that story also tells us that the Spartans are betrayed and the rest are killed. Varoufakis fell on his sword and resigned, seeing that the Troika were going to impose their rules regardless….and Tsipras agreed to even harsher austerity measures than those that had been rejected in the referendum.