Odysseus In America: Combat Trauma And The Trials Of Homecoming (2003) - Plot & Excerpts
This well written work of non-fiction is about the homecoming of warriors like Odysseus after the Trojan War and the brutal impact that war has upon their being when they return home. The writer is a VA staff psychiatrist at an outpatient clinic in Boston and he knows his Homer. Shay saw that the trials and tribulations of Odysseus on his 20 year return to Ithaca had distinctive parallels to the experiences of veterans from the Vietnam War based upon his first-hand outpatient experience. Each of the chapters of the "Odyssey" capture a wounding experience for Odysseus, which name translates to "man of hate" or "he who sows trouble." The alternate name used by Joyce, Ulysses, in Greek is Oulixes, which comes from his scar, "oule." If you've read the "Odyssey," then you may recall that upon his return to the shores Ithaca he appears as a wizened, ragged beggar. He is unrecognized except by his dog, Argos, who was a pup when Odysseus left for war and dies upon seeing his master at his return from Troy. Even the swineherd, Eumaeus, from the estate of Odysseus doesn't recognize him, at first, when he returns but his old nurse, Eurycleia, does remember a scar from a wound upon his leg from hunting a wild boar as a child. The point is that courageous veterans have all been wounded deeply by the brutal trauma of their combat for years after their return home. There is really no forgetting the savagery of war: Shay mentions that "amnesty" at its roots means a "forgetting" of past grievances by both sides in war. This book gave me a new perspective of Odysseus, whom I had always considered one of the most agile, fit, courageous, resourceful and intelligent of the Greek warriors. However, Shay is highly critical of Odysseus as a warrior because his leadership decisions resulted in the loss of so many men under his command: indeed, he lost two generations of men from Ithaca after returning home alone from Troy after 20 years. Shay also writes to set straight a common misconception about the Sirens and their songs: it is commonly understood that their wailing was a seduction meant to lure sailors onto shoals but Shay writes that the reason that the Siren songs drove Odysseus and his crew nearly insane is because they knew and sang the truth about the Trojan War, which was unbearable to hear after the war had ended. "Woe to the innocent who hears that Sound! / He will not see his lady nor his children/ in joy, crowding about him, home from war/ the Sirens will sing his mind away." The seductive power of the Siren's song was the "musical reenactment of his own past, his own self, his own reflection, his own narcissism," Shay writes. There are the famous women of the Odyssey in Calypso, Nausicaa and Circe, all of whom symbolize major potential post-war problems for returning veterans. Shay is hard on Odysseus for his leadership decisions at Scylla & Charybdis, the island of the Laestrygonians and in killing the cattle of the Sun King. Homer has been described by Shay as a collection of writers who put onto paper the oral tradition of those poets who sang the old songs about the Trojan War. There is no peace for Odysseus and too little joy, even after the war ends in victory for the Greeks, the scars of Odysseus remain with him and are born by him with as much grace as the love and kindness of those around him enable him to manage. This is a book about the tragedy of war and how ultimately it solves nothing even for victors like Ulysses.
For anyone wanting to know more about trauma, and combat trauma in particular, Odysseus in America is essential reading. Jonathan Shay draws analogies between the myth of Odysseus and the experiences of combat veterans. I have read the Odyssey twice but without the interpretation offered by Jonathan Shay. Shay also provides a number of recommendations to reduce the occurrences of combat trauma and to help those who have it to heal. I am interested in learning more how behavioral health professionals can use literary themes to help individuals heal from trauma.
What do You think about Odysseus In America: Combat Trauma And The Trials Of Homecoming (2003)?
The best book about war and homecoming I've ever read. Shay was highly academic, giving soldiers and their experiences the caliber of intellectual thought they deserved, but also accessible and real, validating the full range of emotions felt. I was surprised at how many of the emotions he mentioned I've felt, as a wife of a chaplain and not a soldier myself (though you could argue that I am, in a different sense). Also, explaining war and homecoming through the lens of Odysseus was pure genius. I'm now even rewatching the Hobbit with new eyes. I think all American citizens should have to read this book. I would give it six stars if I could.
—Lindsey
The follow-up to Shay's excellent Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character. AiV discussed the effects of combat trauma, post-traumatic stress and moral injury in the context of the Iliad; OiA is concerned with how those phenomena affect the post-war experience of veterans returning home, as illustrated by an interpretation of the Odyssey. Good, but I didn't get the same sort of struck-by-lightning feeling as I did from AiV - possibly because the application of the Odysseus story felt a little more stretched than that of Achilles in the first book. Recommended, but certainly read AiV if you're going to read this.
—Ryan
This book was great. I've given away copies and read it twice myself. As a combat vet I felt like Dr. Shay exposed me to aspects of myself, previously unconsidered, that helped me to face daily life with a more reflective foundation.He pairs his experience with treating veterans to the experience of Odysseus' own homecoming and finds remarkable parallels that, if nothing else, hammer home the universality of war and the experiences of the war-torn on coming home.Now I'm going to have to read it again....
—Dan
