The Syriza victory in the May European elections was historic it is the first time the radical left has won in Greece and the celebrations of party supporters outside Athens University lasted until the early hours. The emotional but restrained mood captured the melancholia of a nation torn between an invented tradition of classical glory and a traumatic history of state repression, corruption and dynastic politics that brought the country to the edge of disaster. The elections marked the end of the post-civil war period. Shared hardship makes the old left-right divisions recede.
On a stage three young people sang and danced: Alexis Tsipras, the leader of Syriza; Rena Dourou, the winner of the Attica region, where close to half the population of Greece lives; and Gabriel Sakellaridis, who lost by the smallest margin the Athens town hall. At the edge of the crowd an older couple were crying. "We have been waiting for this day for 70 years," the woman said.
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