Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of CharacterAn original and groundbreaking examination of the psychological devastation of war through the lens of Homer’s Iliad in this “compassionate book [that] deserves a place in the lasting literature of the Vietnam War” (The New York Times). In this moving and dazzlingly creative book, Dr. Jonathan Shay examines the psychological devastation of war by comparing the soldiers of Homer’s Iliad with Vietnam veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. A classic of war literature that has as much relevance as ever in the wake of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Achilles in Vietnam is a “transcendent literary adventure” (The New York Times) and “clearly one of the most original and most important scholarly works to have emerged from the Vietnam War” (Tim O’Brien, author of The Things They Carried). As a Veterans Affairs psychiatrist, Shay encountered devastating stories of unhealed PTSD and uncovered the painful paradox—that fighting for one’s country can render one unfit to be a citizen. With a sensitive and compassionate examination of the battles many Vietnam veterans continue to fight, Shay offers readers a greater understanding of PTSD and how to alleviate the potential suffering of soldiers. Although the Iliad was written twenty-seven centuries ago, Shay shows how it has much to teach about combat trauma, as do the more recent, compelling voices and experiences of Vietnam vets. A groundbreaking and provocative monograph, Achilles in Vietnam takes readers on a literary journey that demonstrates how we can learn how war damages the mind and spirit, and work to change those things in our culture that so that we don’t continue repeating the same mistakes. |
Contents
Betrayal of UWhats Right | 5 |
Soldiers rageThe beginning | 20 |
Achilles character before his psychological injuries | 28 |
Combat is a condition of captivity and enslavement | 35 |
Portrait of Patroklos | 44 |
Guilt and Wrongful Substitution | 69 |
B e r s e r k 7 7 | 77 |
Dishonoring the Enemy | 103 |
50ldiers Luck and Gods Will | 137 |
Reclaiming the Iliad s Gods as a Metaphor | 149 |
Homeric irony and gods love | 160 |
The official diagnostic criteria for PTSD of the American | 166 |
Healing and Tragedy | 183 |
Conclusion | 195 |
War is not an industrial process | 204 |
233 | |
Other editions - View all
Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character Jonathan Shay No preview available - 2010 |
Common terms and phrases
Achilles Agamémnon Aias Akhaians Akhilleus American soldiers ancient armor army battle berserk betrayal of what's body Carl von Clausewitz chapter character civilian combat PTSD combat soldiers combat trauma commander culture dead death Diomédés emotion enemy experience feel fight fire fucking gods Gooks Gregory Nagy grief griefwork guilt guys healing hear Hektor helicopter Homer Homeric warriors honor human Iliad Judith Lewis Herman killed lives luck mean memory Menelaos mental military modern moral moral luck motherfuckers mourning narrative National Vietnam Veterans never Odysseus officers pain Patroklos Patroklos's Paul Fussell person political Priam psychological injuries PTSD rage revenge Robert Fagles shit social special comrade suffering survival survivor tell terror thémis thing tion Tragedy trauma Traumatic Stress Troy unit University Press veter Veterans Readjustment Study Vietnam combat veterans Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Vietnam War Vietnamese weapons what's right words wounded Y'know York Zeus