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Mai Thanh Lam

Prof Kaylor

World Lit I

Oct 1, 2018

The Odyssey and the PTSD of Odysseus

The Odyssey is the book about war that affects the hero Odysseus in many ways through

his journey to go back to his home country Ithaca. PTSD, as defined is, “posttraumatic stress

disorder,” appears through all Odysseus’s trip coming back home (“PTSD”). Even though it is

often difficult to diagnose PTSD, but there is no doubt that PTSD has affected millions of

soldiers throughout the centuries, for instance was Vietnam war. Many of soldiers say that they

feel physically and socially that they “aren’t home yet,” (“Shay”). When warriors were done in

war, another war began in themselves. The same thing happened with Odysseus when he is

totally broken and lost his trust in society that he even didn’t recognize his own home. It took

him over 10 years to defeat the monster Poseidon inside him.

From the beginning to the end, there is a dilemma throughout the journey of Odysseus to

take his identity back, when he is in the war, he is admired as a hero. However, when he leaves

the war he has nothing. Prior to his journey, he is recognized as the father of Telemachus,

husband of Penelope, son of Laertes, king of Ithaca and subject of the god. He has everything in

his hand, as we can see he is now a successful human. However, when he leaves the war, the

society turns their back to him so that he has to disguise as a beggar. Later then, they said he is a

rapist to all the girls he has met in his journey, also a killer who sacrifices his own people.

After the war, the first island he that he landed, he shows his first symptom when he

begins the raid in Ismarus and kill all the residents. He and his man lost their control because of
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wine. Going to the Lotus Eaters, the soldiers eat the lotus that the residents offer them. Then they

forget their mission and their homecoming. Same thing happens at Circe’s island, Odysseus rest

in the arm of the beauty for too long that he lost his desire of taking back his identity. The PTSD

is showed through Odysseus’ behavior when he cannot control himself and acts so brutally, full

all of Poseidon towards nearly everything. Also he let himself relax even though his mission is

not done. This is partly show that after the war, the soldiers do not know what to do because they

are still in combat mode, so they live through their appetite instinct.

On the way of coming home, he met many temptations to become a wrong guardian. At

this spirit emotion level, Odysseus is still struggle with his anger, but after experience with many

incidents happened he now can control himself better. The Athena and Poseidon are balance and

always go together when he decides any movement to overcome his problem. First is the

challenge with the siren’s song who lure the soldier to death; as can be a metaphor for suicide

when the pain as PTSD becomes too much to bear. Luckily, he overcomes by the help of people

around him. Second challenge will be two offers for being a human again but not the right one.

The land of Phaeacians bring a first offer for the hero to become a human but the wrong one. He

refuses to take an offer. Entertained at the royal court, he asks the blind bard, Demodocus, to

sing of the exploits of the Greeks at Troy. At the very moment when the song begins, Odysseus

cannot keep his emotion and the “Tears welled up in his eyes and flowed down his cheek,”

(Puchner, p.424). He broke right the moment he hears the song, the pain after the war of him has

never been cured. The soldier soul inside him never forget what he did through the war, he

supposes to “guard and protect” the citizens but he did everything completely contradictory with

his vows (“Guardian”). The second offer from Calypso that the hero can become “Deus” who is

believed to be a god in Greek. However, this god is not a complete god who is still has anger that
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left from the war. He again refuses to be a wrong one. In these two choices he made, Athena the

wisdom is following him so that he did make a good decision to fight against his PTSD. As

mentioned in the spirit emotion level, Poseidon is with Odysseus too through PTSD. The

evidence is when he is at the Cyclops island, his curious about the thing in the cave luring him

that he wants to see what would happen. He gets to there and get trapped so that he has to use a

trick to put the One-Eyed Monster to sleep then takes his one eye and tells the monster that

“Noman” (Puchner, p.434) did it. He is smart in this situation to linger out of danger. After the

escape, he wants everyone to know his victory; ergo he shouts out loud his true name and the

wind brings it to Poseidon. This is the symptom of the PTSD that the soldier wants his victory

has to recorded and remembered. After all, beyond the merits from the war they considered as

“eudaimonia”, the soldiers barely have anything left.

The essence of the story is that of a veteran combatant who, after a long absence, must

find his way back into a household he finds threatened by outside forces and dangerously altered.

The necessary process of recognition and reintegration is accomplished, but only violently,

painfully. In Odysseus’s case, he sleeps on the ship to way back home and when he wakes up

from the nightmare, he turns to be him again but the different one. Odysseus indeed succeeds in

controlling his anger, becoming full Athena who “takes a calm and rational approach toward

life,” (“Philosopher”). For instance, on the way coming to the palace, he met the suitor and the

suitor Eumaeus “kicked him on the hip, trying to show him off the path,” (Puchner, p.531).

Instead of letting the anger overwhelm the wisdom, he decided that he would “controlled himself

and just took it,” (Puchner, p.531). He is now no longer the man who is full of anger and act

impulsively as before. He is now a real king who is a right person. The wisdom is at his side

when he decides to go not to his own palace, but to the cottage of Eumaeus, a swineherd. He
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does not reveal his identity, even to the loyal old man. Then, posing as a beggar, he slips into his

house, at once spying on the suitors who swarm around Penelope, and testing his wife and

household's loyalty. After all, the cure for the veterans who carrying PTSD is love. Love from

the family, the relatives. Love from Telemachus, his own son even though they lack of

experience to know each other. Love from his wife Penelope who is always desperate waiting for

his return.

In conclusion, Odysseus is a hero due to his undying to his family and his country. He

climbs from the bottom of instinct desire to spirit emotion and end it at the mind of wisdom. His

journey back to his family helps to structure himself again as a hero he was prophesied as. At the

end, Odysseus and Penelope go to bed. He told her other stories about the war that he was going

through. It is possible to come home, however, Odysseus himself must accept that he is different.
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Work Cited

Puchner, Martin, gen. ed. The Norton Anthology of World Literature. 3rd ed. Vol. A. New York:

Norton, 2012. Print.

Shay, Jonathan. Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming. New

York, 2002. Print

The American Heritage Dictionary: “Guardian.” 5th ed. 2012. Print.

The American Heritage Dictionary: “Philosopher.” 5th ed. 2012. Print.

The American Heritage Dictionary: “Guardian.” 5th ed. 2012. Print.