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Odysseus Use Of PTSD In Homer's Odyssey

427 Words2 Pages

Upon Odysseus’s arrival back at home it is likely he may have developed PTSD. PTSD is a tragic disease one may develop after being in a harsh, combat situation, experiencing trauma such as sexual assault or rape, and even from having a child. The Odyssey is an example of a harsh, combat situation which sets the cause for a character in the story to develop the condition. After encountering grueling and brutal battles some may even consider it highly likely. During Odysseus’s trip tragic situations occurred where Odysseus tried to help but unfortunately he saw many of his men die. When he returned home as said on page 1242 “...he fails to recognize his homeland until Athena appears and tells him it is indeed home”. This can be seen as Post Traumatic …show more content…

This can be seen as PTSD because a symptom of PTSD is not being able to have positive and loving feelings towards someone like the way you used to. Additionally, by far the most clarifying moment when recognizing PTSD is on page 1264 when Penelope mentions moving a bed outside the bedchamber with flipped a switch of rage within Odysseus. Odysseus says with great fury “Woman, by heaven you’ve stung me now! Who dared to move my bed?...” Odysseus is instantly enraged by what seems a simple, small gesture. This is seen as a sign of PTSD because a sufferer of PTSD often will suddenly become angry or irritable. Odysseus becomes enraged almost as fast as one can flip a switch, however, he most likely did not intend for it to sound that mean rather it was a trigger of PTSD. All of these situations are examples of how one may see Odysseus to be suffering from PTSD after experiencing warfare and death over a extended period of

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