n Greek tragedy, hubris is excessive pride towards or defiance of the gods, leading to nemesis. In the ongoing, almost farcical, debt crisis that has afflicted Greece for five years, the patience of the deities – in the form of the European Central Bank, the IMF and other creditors – has been severely tested.

Latterly, the far-Left Siriza-led government, elected in January, has been toying with the Olympian figures who run the eurozone, much to their exasperation. Even as their country stared into the financial abyss, Greek officials managed to send the wrong documents to the bailout monitors preparing for a meeting of European finance ministers in Brussels. While this was dismissed as a simple mistake, it did betray a surprising insouciance given Greece’s perilous position.

Yet, like some stroppy but much-loved teenager, Greece continues to be indulged because the ramifications of throwing her out of the eurozone are too ghastly for EU leaders to contemplate. After yet more brinkmanship, another deal seems to be taking shape that will enable the Greeks to meet their debt repayment deadline at the end of the month.

But for how much longer can this go on? From the point of view of a sceptical Britain, it is easy to underestimate the resilience of the eurozone and the determination of the big EU players like Germany to keep the show on the road. The Greeks have all along gambled that threats to kick them out of the euro were a bluff. But the deal now being hammered out can only be a temporary solution: another debt cliff-edge is surely only six months away.

Greece says it has agreed to some austerity measures, such as higher pension ages and an increase in VAT; but will these really be implemented? Moreover, won’t those other member states that were forced to rein in their spending in exchange for debt bail-outs want similar latitude to be granted to them? As a result of various concessions, Greece is spending substantially less of its GDP on interest repayments than Portugal, Italy and Ireland.

One consequence of the fandango is that this week’s EU summit in Brussels, where David Cameron is due to present Britain’s demands for a renegotiation, will be dominated by the Greek question. But this is no longer just about the debt burden of one of Europe’s smaller countries; the EU’s future is on the line. Despite the fatal flaws in the euro project, Europe’s leaders are prepared to go a very long way to stop it falling apart. The question now is whether nemesis will descend upon Greece alone, or if they will take the EU gods down with them.