Odysseus in America : combat trauma and the trials of homecoming / Jonathan Shay ; foreword by Max Cleland and John McCain.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Shay, Jonathan.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

War neuroses.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Veterans--Mental health--United States.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975.

Homer. Odyssey.

Homer.

Post-traumatic stress disorder.

Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Psychological aspects.

Psychological aspects.

Veterans--Mental health--United States.

Veterans.

Veterans--Mental health.

United States.

War--Psychological aspects.

War.

Combat Disorders.

Vietnam.

Veterans--psychology.

Armed Conflicts--history.

Medical Subjects:

Combat Disorders.

United States.

Vietnam.

Veterans--psychology.

Armed Conflicts--history.

Physical Description:

xvi, 329 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Scribner, [2002]

Summary:

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 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.

Contents:

Part I Unhealed Wounds

2. Odysseus Among the Rich Civilians 11

3. Pirate Raid: Staying in Combat Mode 19

4. Lotus Land: The Flight from Pain 35

5. Cyclops: The Flight from Boredom 42

"Lawless Brutes" 43

Cunning 46

"And Know Not Me"

Loss of Identity and Boasting 47

6. Odysseus Gets a Leg Up

and Falls on His Face: The Workplace 51

7. A Peaceful Harbor: No Safe Place 60

8. Witches, Goddesses, Queens, Wives

Dangerous Women 65

9. Among the Dead: Memory and Guilt 76

The Dead (Try to) Reproach the Living 76

"I Won't Forget a Thing"

Keeping Faith 79

Timmy 81

Anyone Close Will Be Harmed 82

Irretrievable Losses 84

10. What Was the Sirens' Song?: Truth As Deadly Addiction 86

The Language of Times That Make a World 89

Memory Unconnected to Community 91

Total Certainty Is Just as Damaging 92

11. Scylla and Charybdis: Dangers Up, Down, and Sideways 96

12. The Sun God's Beef: The Blame Game 100

Why Odysseus' Adventures Are an Ironic Allegory 103

13. Above the Whirlpool 107

Guilt and Good Character 109

14. Calypso: Odysseus the Sexaholic 113

15. Odysseus at Home 120

Lies, Tests, Disguises 121

Slaughter of the Infamous Suitors 134

Coldness and Cruelty to Nearest and Dearest 137

Trauma and Odysseus' Character 140

He Leaves

Again! 144

Part II Restoration

Aversion to Returning Veterans Is an Old Story 152

Damage to Character

Injured Thumos 156

Aristotle Again

Human Is Politikon Zoon 162

17. From the Clinic to the Wall 164

Stages of Recovery 168

A Trip to the Wall with VIP 169

18. Lew Puller Ain't on the Wall 180

Part III Prevention

20. Preventing Psychological and Moral Injury in Military Service 208

Cohesion

The Human Element in Combat 208

Why Does Cohesion Matter? 210

Cohesion, from the Point of View of Ethics... 220

Unit Associations

A Neglected Resource 221

Training 222

Training, from the Point of View of Ethics... 223

Leadership 225

Leadership, from the Point of View of Ethics... 227

21. Odysseus As a Military Leader 231

The Trojan Horse 233

Summary of the Charges Against Captain Odysseus 236

Achilles, Odysseus, and Agamemnon 237

The Circle of Communalization of Trauma 243

Purification After Battle 244

What Does It Mean to "Be Home"? 245

Trauma Studies and Other Fields of Knowledge 246

A New Abolitionism 249

September 11, 2001 253

Appendix I A Pocket Guide to Homer's Odyssey 255

Part 1 (Books 1-4) A Home Without Husband or Father 255

Part 2 (Books 5-8) Odysseus Starts the Last Lap for Home 256

Part 3 (Books 9-12) Odysseus Tells His Adventures in Wonderland 256

Part 4 (Books 13-16) Father and Son Return to Ithaca and Are Reunited 257

Part 5 (Books 17-20) Stranger at Home 258

Part 6 (Books 21-24) Veteran Triumphant 258

Appendix II Information Resources for Vietnam Veterans and Their Families 261

Appendix III Some Proposals 263

Obsolete Assumptions Built into the Current Military Personnel System 263

Some Specific Recommendations 265

How We Get There from Here 266.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 303-312) and index.

ISBN:

0743211561

OCLC:

50064845

Online:

Publisher description