In February 1994, Greece’s former public order minister Stelios Papathemelis imposed a 2am curfew on the operating of bars and nightclubs.

The goal was to limit noise pollution, but the results were laughable as Athenians would stop their night-time revelry and rush to Syntagma Square where they partied from 2am until dawn as a sign of protest against the new measures. Champagne corks popped and a party atmosphere prevailed, with the only thing missing from the festivities being the flower girls (loulouloudes) who shower bouzouki patrons with streams of red, white, pink carnations.

Playwright Lakis Lazopoulos, later ranked by Forbes as the most powerful and influential celebrity in Greece (2010), was at the time renowned for his catch-phrase “Let’s go to the square” (Πάμ’ πλατεία) and his trademark song on his high-rating show Deka Mikrous Mitsous which captured the feeling of most young revellers poking fun at minister Papathemelis:

“Papathemelis, Papathemelis, tonight my body is neglected by a sailor” (Παπαθεμελή, Παπαθεμελή, απόψε το κορμί μου ένας ναύτης αμελεί).

Athens proved itself to be the unruly city that never sleeps, thumbing its nose at anyone attempting to invoke its slumber.

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Twenty seven years onwards and Papathemelis is as much a memory as the socialist PASOK government of Andreas Papandreou. Since then, drachmas have been replaced by euros, a crippling debt crisis has supposedly put Greeks in check and the start of the global pandemic even showed that Greeks – when they put their minds to it – can be shining examples of lockdown.

For a while, at least.

Over the weekend, the memories of Greeks taking to the squares was revived as the children of now middle-aged Papathemelis protestors thumbed their nose at social distancing by gathering at squares – and not just Syntagma, but Exarheia, Pangrati, Peristeri, Kypseli, Kolonaki and nearly every neighbourhood gathering spot.

Dancing on car tops, crowding to the point of suffocation, without masks, and music at full volume, enjoying drinks with friends and even fireworks.

Following violent demonstrations in Nea Smyrni Square last month in protest against police brutality, law enforcement is – this time – at a minimum, leaving youth to their own devices. The scenes of partying over the weekend are reminiscent of 1994, however the repercussions aren’t just financial this time around as the number of people on ventilators in Greece climbed to a record-breaking 847 on Monday while a further 78 deaths in 24 hours took the death toll to 9,540.

“You only live once,” they say, forgetting, however, that you only die once, too.

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