Shelley memorably said that we are all Greeks, and it is undeniably true that here in the West we owe an enormous debt to the Greeks. Coincidentally, they now owe an enormous debt to us and that has made Greece once again the centre of the world. As details have emerged over the last few months about the state of the Greek tax system and their maybe-not-entirely-accurate accounts on entry into the Euro, lots of people have expressed outrage and shock that this could have happened. But should we really be that surprised? Didn’t they give us ample warning? After all, it’s all written down in those old stories of theirs…
But the Greek myths don’t just shed light on modern day Greece – they illuminate the whole world. The global financial crisis was created by a brand new banking breed of Midases, all of them hungry for gold. Midas was a king who did one good deed and was rewarded by the god Apollo who told him he would grant him one wish. What would Midas choose: world peace? An end to hunger? An Olympics that was delivered on budget? No. He wished that everything he touched would turn into gold. EVERYTHING. This included his daughter, as well as all the food he tried to eat. Not a smart move. The gods had to step in and revoke his wish, but not before the damage was already done…
The terrible problems that afflict Western culture today were woven into the myths of the people who gave us that culture in the first place. They really knew what was what those ancient Greeks – so maybe the solutions are in there too.