| Physical description |
xvi, 329 pages ; 24 cm |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
| 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 -- 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 -- 10. What Was the Sirens' Song?: Truth As Deadly Addiction 86 -- 11. Scylla and Charybdis: Dangers Up, Down, and Sideways 96 -- 12. Sun God's Beef: The Blame Game 100 -- 13. Above the Whirlpool 107 -- 14. Calypso: Odysseus the Sexaholic 113 -- 15. Odysseus at Home 120 -- Part II Restoration -- 17. From the Clinic to the Wall 164 -- 18. Lew Puller Ain't on the Wall 180 -- Part III Prevention -- 20. Preventing Psychological and Moral Injury in Military Service 208 -- 21. Odysseus As a Military Leader 231 -- 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. |
| 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. |
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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. |
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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. |
| Subject |
Homer. Odyssey.
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War neuroses.
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Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Veterans -- Mental health -- United States.
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Post-traumatic stress disorder.
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Vietnam War, 1961-1975 -- Psychological aspects.
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Veterans -- Mental health -- United States.
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War -- Psychological aspects.
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| ISBN |
0743211561 |
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