Along with Neville Morley (who’s far more expert in these matters than I am), I’ve been playing a spot of historical bingo over the past few days. The Anglophone press has certainly had a field day with its Greek metaphors as the crisis has unfolded. I don’t want to trivialise the very very serious situation that now faces public services in Greece, and I’d encourage readers to join the protests (there’s one this evening in London) against more austerity and/or to donate to Medical Aid for Greece, which is helping to fill the gaps left by drastic cuts to the Greek health service. In return for which, feel free to entertain yourselves at the expense of global journalism as its practitioners try valiantly to squeeze in yet another classical metaphor to their coverage… This article from the Telegraph manages to get Thermopylae, Homer, Plato, Pericles and Aeschylus into the first three paragraphs. Class. Greece is like Sisyphus, proclaims Larry Elliott in the Guardian. USA Today manages the Battle of Marathon alongside Thermopylae. They’re clever people. Al-Arabiya has Greece sandwiched between Scylla and Charybdis. The Spectator discusses how Solon would have solved the Greek crisis. There are plenty of Pyrrhic victories. Not to mention a spot of Schadenfreude. Thanks, the FT. Got your own top clichés to add? Go ahead in the comments. Did you make that donation yet?