ESSAY
ing and protecting those who risk their
Achilles at Swarthmore
Civilian trauma and the making of
character
by Natalia Sucher
*Content warning for mentions of trau-
ma, child abuse, sexual violence, and
domestic violence.
Stories often go unrecognized for what
they are. People, influenced by society’s
narratives of expected behavior, construct
and present their own identities. As
Jonathan Shay, a clinical psychiatrist and
MacArthur fellow, writes in his ground-
breaking book “Achilles in Vietnam:
Combat Trauma and the Undoing of
Character,” experiencing trauma ruptures
the safety and continuity that traditional
narratives give to society and individuals.
Shay compares the first-hand testimonies
of loss, cruelty, and injustice faced by
those who fought in the Vietnam War
with the “Iliad”’s account of the Ancient
Greek hero Achilles’s betrayal by his
commander Agamemnon and the death
of Patroclus, Achilles’ θεράπων (compan-
ion, second in command, and emotional
stabilizer). In order to promote a public
attitude of care for those suffering from
post-traumatic stress disorder, Shay
emphasizes how severe combat trauma
undoes a sense of identity held before
war.
The “Iliad” also describes characters
with civilian PTSD caused by child abuse
(Hera beats her daughter Artemis), sexual
assault (Paris rapes Helen), and domestic
violence (Zeus threatens to beat Hera).
While Shay presents combat trauma as an
undoing of previously established char-
acter, there also exist people who have
12 NOVEMBER 2015 SWARTHMORE REVIEW
experienced trauma from such an early
age that the trauma has informed the
construction of their characters. I want
to expand Shay’s focus on how combat
trauma undoes character to demonstrate
the ways that experiencing trauma builds
a sense of self. Achilles, traumatized by
both his commander’s betrayal and the
death of Patroclus, provides an excel-
lent example of how somebody who has
experienced trauma can progress from
destructive guilt, anger, and grief to
magnanimity.
The “Iliad” begins by invoking the
muse to sing a song about the wrath of
Achilles:
Anger be now your song, immortal one,
Akhilleus’ anger, doomed and ruinous...
The epic traces the causes and effects of
the μῆνις (indignant wrath) of Achilles,
who is the best soldier of the Greek army.
The first main event that angers Achilles
is his commander Agamemnon’s betrayal
of θέμις (the commonly understood stan-
dards of behavior in society, or “what’s
right,” as Shay defines it). Agamemnon
steals Achilles’s prize of war, a woman
named Briseis. Achilles responds by with-
drawing from the war in anger, resulting
in many deaths of his fellow soldiers.
The army is such a strong and binding
social construction of shared values and
expectations that it motivates soldiers to
go into the line of fire. When Agamem-
non seizes Briseis, a woman who symbol-
izes Achilles’ self-sacrifice and valor in
war, he abuses his power as a leader and
undermines the expectation of respect-
lives in war. At first, Achilles attempts to
murder Agamemnon, but is restrained by
the goddess Athena. Achilles then turns
his anger towards himself, destroying
emotional ties with his fellow soldiers
and driving away those closest to him.
Achilles’s indignant rage in reaction to
Agamemnon’s social betrayal of “what’s
right” depicts a fundamental reaction to
traumatic violence or exploitation, which
dramatically alters his perception. In
order to understand the terror and anger
both Achilles and Vietnam soldiers feel
in reaction to their superiors’ betray-
al, Shay writes that “paradoxically, the
reader must respond emotionally to the
reality of combat danger in order to make
rational sense of the injury inflicted when
those in charge violate ‘what’s right.’”
When someone faces the threat of serious
harm, their world becomes unsafe. Unless
the reader feels the violation, helpless-
ness, and horror these individuals have
lived and relived, it is very difficult to
empathize with the logic behind their
behaviors.
Society provides a narrative of “what’s
right” that differs greatly from the expe-
riences of individuals born into abusive
families. Child abuse skews the idea
that parents protect and nurture their
children. Sexual assault denies that one’s
body is one’s own. Domestic violence
fractures the notion that marriage results
in security. The injustice of indiscrimi-
nate harm breaks the trust set by cultural
values as well as behaviors expected of
individuals. Both abusers and people who
have learned of the terror often refuse to
acknowledge it by denying, trivializing,
or blaming the sufferer. The rift between
social norms and traumatic experienc-
es isolates survivors, pushing them to
withdraw and turn their anger, sadness,
and horror inward, as Achilles does in the
“Iliad.” The internalization of their emo-
tions often manifests itself as depression,
self-blame, guilt, flashbacks, emotional
numbing, substance abuse, and mistrust-
fulness.
In an effort to normalize their trau-
matic experiences, those suffering may
recreate their experiences by harming
others. After Agamemnon robs Achilles
of Briseis, in front of the entire army,
Achilles angrily tells Agamemnon that
he will withdraw from the war and let his
fellow soldiers die to make the com-

Achilles tends to Patroclus. Kylix by the Sosias Painter, c. 500 BC. Housed in Altes
Museum, Berlin, Germany.
mander suffer for his betrayal:
I swear
a day will come when every Akhaian soldier
will groan to have Akhilleus back. That day
you shall no more prevail on me…
though a thousand perish before
the killer, Hektor. You will eat your heart out,
raging with remorse for this dishonor
done by you to the bravest of Akhaians.
Although it is Agamemnon who
violates Achilles’s sense of “what’s right,”
Achilles takes out his anger on the entire
army, putting their lives in danger by not
fighting amongst them. He wants Ag-
amemnon to recognize the dishonor he
has caused and feel the pain this dishon-
or has inflicted upon him. Those who
have been hurt often desire revenge and
acknowledgement of wrongs committed:
some press charges in court and others
confront or harm their abusers, but if
they cannot express their anger to their
abusers, they often either turn their rage
inward or toward those closest to them.
When those who have been abused
internalize their anger, they may berate
Photo courtesy of Altes Museum
themselves with names and descrip-
tions their abusers have given them. For
instance, a child who has been repeat-
edly taught that they are worthless by
their parents may come to identify as
such and view themselves with the same
animosity felt towards them. Their anger,
suppressed by fear of harm, may manifest
as depression, guilt, and suicidality, as it
does for Achilles when Hector murders
Patroclus, his θεράπων (meaning closest
friend, substitute, and companion). After
Achilles learns of Patroclus’ death, he
cries out in helpless desperation:
May [death] come quickly. As things were,
I could not help my friend in his extremity.
Far from home he died; he needed me…
Here I sat,
my weight a useless burden to the earth.
The lasting guilt Achilles feels for his
θεράπων expresses the common reac-
tion of guilt felt by those who have been
traumatized and could not save those
they loved. A common tactic used by
abusers is forcing their target to listen,
watch, and partake in abusing others. A
parent may beat their spouse as the child
listens or make their spouse witness the
rape of their child. The powerlessness
to prevent a loved one’s injury can be an
unbearable burden that lasts a lifetime,
affecting character in profound ways.
After Patroclus dies, Achilles’s emotions
overpower him:
A black cloud of grief came shrouding over
Achilles.
Both hands clawing the ground for soot and filth,
he poured it over his head, fouled his handsome
face
and black ashes settled onto his fresh clean war-
shirt.
Overpowered in all his power, sprawled in the
dust,
Achilles lay there, fallen…
tearing his hair, defiling it with his own hands.
Emotions take on a life of their own as
Achilles’s grief symbolizes death, mani-
festing itself as a black cloud that envel-
ops him, his own burial, and his collapse.
Shay explains that the persistence of the
traumatic event incapacitates the mind:
“The everyday experience of authority
over mental processes is denied to the
survivor of severe combat trauma.” The
helplessness felt from the inability to
help themselves and their loved ones can
haunt survivors, replaying in their minds
in the form of flashbacks. Triggered by
stress, an occurrence, or emotion, they
may relive the horror they once felt in
the form of images, sounds, and feelings.
Achilles grieves Patroclus’ death in pangs
of remembered loss:
Now pierced by memory,
he sighed and sighed again
Trauma often destabilizes one’s control
over memory, resulting in amnesia,
flashbacks, and emotionless factual rec-
ollection. The mind’s protective impulse
prevents the survivor from recalling their
experiences at will, forcing the memo-
ries into different avenues of expression.
Triggered by stress, the survivor often
relives the trauma as overwhelming frag-
ments and collections of things felt, seen,
smelt, and heard. Shay gives an example
of “the sensation of suffocating in a Viet
Cong tunnel or being tumbled over and
over by a rushing river—but with no
memory of either tunnel or river.” Terror,
rage, and grief merge in the heart of the
survivor and take control, reenacting the
helplessness felt during the trauma. The
flashbacks can elicit harsh reactions, such
SWARTHMORE REVIEW NOVEMBER 2015 13
as uncontrollable crying, horror, and
inexplicable anger.
Despite his impassioned infuriation,
Achilles is self-aware enough to realize
that the anger he harbors against Agam-
emnon for his betrayal is not productive
to his current goal of avenging Patroclus’s
death by killing Hector. Achilles exercises
unexpected moderation when he sets his
μῆνις aside, telling himself to:
Let bygones be bygones. Done is done.
Despite my anguish I will beat it down,
the fury mounting inside me, down by force.
Although he only quiets the anger
from his commander’s dishonor and not
from the death of his θεράπων, Achil-
les demonstrates incredible strength of
The recognition
and acceptance of
resilience shaped
by trauma gives
survivors a unique
confidence in their
ability to handle
hardship.
character by doing so. The ability to calm
oneself in the face of welling emotion
is crucial to reintegrating into a society
that is not receptive to those who have
witnessed its insecurity. Achilles’s willing-
ness to accept that the traumatic betrayal
occurred in the past frees him to express
himself through his undying yet blood-
thirsty love for Patroclus by murdering
Hector. Trauma often traps people in
negative cycles of thought and action that
prevents them from acknowledging the
present as separate from the past. It takes
an incredible amount of courage and per-
sistence to fight against this cycle, but the
daunting task of healing is made easier
by becoming aware of and avoiding what
brings about these intense and damaging
reactions.
Toward the end of the epic, Achilles
successfully recognizes and averts a
situation that could harm Hector’s father,
Priam, who comes to Achilles to ask for
his son’s corpse. As he goes to prepare
Hector’s corpse, Achilles tells Priam not
to look at Hector, fearing that Priam
will attack him and subsequently die by
14 NOVEMBER 2015 SWARTHMORE REVIEW
Achilles’s hand. Achilles’s forethought and
avoidance of a situation that could lead
to violence is a testament to the matu-
rity, kindness, and growth survivors are
capable of.
Achilles and Priam’s meeting demon-
strates the profound compassion they
have developed through expressing their
pain and strength. The two sufferers
cry together, profoundly affirming each
other’s trauma:
And overpowered by memory
both men gave way to grief. Priam wept freely
for man-killing Hector, throbbing, crouching
before Achilles’ feet as Achilles wept himself,
now for his father, now for Patroclus once again,
and their sobbing rose and fell throughout the
house.
Priam and Achilles share an intense-
ly intimate moment of recognizing
each other’s pain, strength, and beauty.
Achilles acknowledges Priam’s pain as
legitimate and considers Priam’s arrival
to meet him—the murderer of his son—a
strength of character. He then suggests
that they lay their sorrows to rest:
“Ah, sad and old!
Trouble and pain you’ve borne, and bear, aplenty.
Only a great will could have brought you here
among the Akhaian ships, and here alone
before the eyes of one who stripped your sons,
your many sons, in battle. Iron must be
the heart within you. Come, then, and sit down.
We’ll probe our wounds no more but let them
Canoe
by Eva Winter
Languidly leaning too far out,
I hear sirens calling me:
Guilty green opulence giving way
to emerald darkness.
Then; passing into a deepening azure
as I glide in my canoe,
Come join in the mystery of the lake.
Is it alive?
Can it feel the slight pressure of my
paddle;
Churning, slicing, creating a break in
the relentlessness of water—
Yet not so relentless.
The water mark on volcanic rock has
dropped.
rest,
though grief lies heavy on us. Tears heal nothing,
drying so stiff and cold.”
Achilles consoles Priam by praising
his strong will in spite of his pain, a
virtue that they share. The extraordinary
strength and determination from the
hardships those who have been abused
and traumatized can develop is inspira-
tional. The recognition and acceptance
of resilience shaped by trauma gives
survivors a unique confidence in their
ability to handle hardship. The muse of
the “Iliad” sings of μῆνις, the indignant
wrath that first isolates Achilles, then
transforms into violent grief, and finally
is sublimated to strong compassion
through self-awareness and restraint.
Shay reads Achilles’s reaction to his com-
mander’s betrayal and best friend’s death
as an account of combat trauma for those
who have served as soldiers in the Viet-
nam war. “Achilles in Vietnam: Combat
Trauma and the Undoing of Character”
provides the groundwork for studying
how trauma not only undoes but builds
identity. Achilles’s reconciliation with
Priam shows how extraordinary empathy
and strength can be developed from hor-
rific experience, serving as a narrative for
the profound effect post-traumatic stress
disorder has on behavior both in and out
of war. The “Iliad,” the founding story of
Western tradition, places its audience as
witness to the depths and heights of trau-
ma’s destruction and creation.
Still, they call to me.
Forsake the canoe
and follow us.
Ouch! A hornet, straying far from
shore
A wayward traveler pulling me
Each time I lean out too far on Waldo.