Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming
by Jonathan Shay
On This Page
Description
In his acclaimed book Achilles in Vietnam, Dr. Jonathan Shay used the Iliad as a prism through which to examine how ancient and modern wars have battered the psychology of the men who fight. Now he turns his attention to the Odyssey, Homer's classic story of a soldier's homecoming, to illuminate the real problems faced by combat veterans reentering civilian society. Drawing on his years of experience working with Vietnam veterans, Shay illustrates how the Odyssey can be read as a metaphor show more for the pitfalls that trap many veterans on the road back to civilian life. He also explains how veterans recover, and advocates changes to American military practice that will protect future servicemen and servicewomen while increasing their fighting power. The Odyssey, Shay argues, offers explicit portrayals of behavior common among returning soldiers in our own culture -- danger-seeking, womanizing, explosive violence, drug abuse, visitation by the dead, obsession, vagrancy, and homelessness. Supporting his reading with examples from his fifteen-year practice treating Vietnam combat veterans, Shay shows how Odysseus's mistrustfulness, his lies, and his constant need to conceal his thoughts and emotions foreshadow the experiences of many of today's veterans. Throughout, Homer strengthens our understanding of what a combat veteran must overcome to return to and flourish in civilian life, just as the heartbreaking stories of the veterans Shay treats give us a new understanding of one of the world's greatest classics. With a foreword by Vietnam veteran U.S. Senators John McCain and Max Cleland, representing bipartisan support for what Dr. Shay is trying to accomplish, Odysseus in America is an impassioned and cogent plea to renovate American military institutions -- and a brilliant rereading of Homer's epic. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
In a world where Abu Ghraib, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Guantanamo
Bay are on the nightly news and where the U.S presidential race
focused largely on the military records of the two candidates, Dr.
Jonathan Shay's most recent book seems extremely timely. He uses the
Odyssey to shed light on the challenges that soldiers face when
returning to civilian society, and, in turn, he uses the experiences
of Vietnam veterans to shed light on Homer's epic. He artfully melds
literary criticism with social commentary, memoir with medical
analysis, and he criticizes the effects of war in our society without
dehumanizing the soldiers who take part in it. -Emily
Bay are on the nightly news and where the U.S presidential race
focused largely on the military records of the two candidates, Dr.
Jonathan Shay's most recent book seems extremely timely. He uses the
Odyssey to shed light on the challenges that soldiers face when
returning to civilian society, and, in turn, he uses the experiences
of Vietnam veterans to shed light on Homer's epic. He artfully melds
literary criticism with social commentary, memoir with medical
analysis, and he criticizes the effects of war in our society without
dehumanizing the soldiers who take part in it. -Emily
A fascinating examination of the PTSD that affected the efforts of Homer's Odysseus to return home from the 10-year-long Trojan War, seen through the eyes of veterans of modern American conflicts (Vietnam, Gulf War I). Shay's account focuses on the contributions that feelings of abandonment and betrayal by trusted superiors and comrades make to the generation of PTSD in any specific person.
Ratings
Members
- Recently Added By
Author Information
2+ Works 790 Members
Jonathan Shay, M.D., Ph.D., is a staff psychiatrist in the Department of Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic in Boston. His patients are Vietnam combat veterans with severe, chronic post-traumatic stress disorder. Visiting-scholar-at-large at the U.S. Naval War College in 2001, Dr. Shay speaks frequently at the invitation of U.S. military services, show more universities, and colleges show less
All Editions
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2002
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, General Nonfiction, History
- DDC/MDS
- 616.85 — Applied science & technology Medicine & health Diseases, Allergies, Skin Conditions Nervous Disorders: Autism, Anorexia, OCD Miscellaneous
- LCC
- RC550 .S533 — Medicine Internal medicine Internal medicine Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry Psychiatry Psychopathology Neuroses
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 232
- Popularity
- 140,266
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.41)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 3
