Greek Tragedy Das (2015) discusses the Greek economic crisis, and the hold it has over the public via the media, in the same terms that one would use to describe a classic of Greek theater. He outlines that the Greek financial crisis bears many similarities with the classic tragedies. Among these similarities are the morality element. Greek tragedy always contains a morality element, he argues, and so there are many moral elements to the economic crisis as well. First, the two players (the EU/Germany, and the Greeks) both contain elements of moral ambiguity so essential to good theatre. Whichever you choose as protagonist and whichever as antagonist, there are moral costs to their actions. The European side sees the Greeks as needing punishment for moral transgressions such as profligate spending and rampant tax evasion; the Greeks point to the hardships caused by the austerity policies imposed upon it by the EU (FIDH.org, 2014).

Das then outlines how his conflict leads to overture, following the narrative of classic tragedy. There has been an extension on the existing bailout of Greece, but the Greek government is starting to grow weary of austerity, and has little...

The author notes that the current wrangling over Greece's austerity and debt are more theater than anything else. He points out that Greece's debt is a lower percentage of GDP than some other EU nations, and that it pays a very low interest rate on its debt. Indeed, 45% of its debt comes from the European Financial Stability Fund, and carries a rate of 1.5% (Das, 2015). The issues that Das identifies as critical are capital flight, which is compromising the solvency of Greek banks, which in turn risks deepening the financial crisis. The capital flight, of course, is the result of the austerity measures that are crushing the Greek economy, and the fear that Greece will ultimately be turfed out of the Euro. Capital flight might also be a response to the deal that was made in Cyprus a few years ago that resulted in a net worth haircut for all Cypriot depositors. Greeks rightfully are squirreling their money in safer places.
The tragedy as described by Das is that none of this needs to happen, but the prevailing conditions in Greece are such that there is little way out, either for the Greek…