Wrapped in Grief: Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome in Homer, the Homeric Hymns, and Aratus
Wrapped in Grief: Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome in Homer, the Homeric Hymns, and Aratus

Summary/Abstract: It is our perception that such ‘modern’ medical conditions as Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome existed in ancient times. We propose to examine the treatment of PTSS in Homer and Homer-inspired Literature. The heroes of the Iliad, including Achilles and Odysseus, will be seen to have suffered at least as much as the rank and file, amongst whom the crew of Odysseus’ ship must be accounted the most afflicted. However, in discussing the symptoms of this condition peripheral aspects of the text will inevitably fight for our attention. These include possible emendations, narratological and factual misunderstandings, and etymological undercurrents. There is too much ‘going on’ in Homer for a critic to be rigidly monothenatic.

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