This cartoon by Martin Rowson from The Guardian uses the story of the Battle of Thermopylae to comment on Greece's politico-economic crisis. (Thermopylae is the ancient battle site where the Greeks, 300 Spartans and their allies, held off masses of invading Persians in 480 BC).
In Martin Rowson's version, the Spartans are defending their country against a Euro army of fat cats and greedy pigs led by Angela Merkel. The scene can be viewed as a metaphor for Merkel's attempts to impose austerity on the increasingly fractious Greeks. The title of the cartoon is a joke based on the fact that, despite several attempts, the leaders of Greece's political parties have so far failed to form a government a week after indecisive elections. Read more >>
TRIVIA NOTE
300, a 2007 American action film directed by Zack Synder, is a fictionalized retelling of the Battle of Thermopylae.
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