Herakles Gone Mad: Rethinking Heroism in an Age of Endless War Book

Meagher, a renowned classical scholar, offers up a new translation of Herakles by Euripides, together with a substantial introduction and commentary. In the introduction and commentary, Meagher develops the argument that much of Greek drama functioned as communal therapy by and for combat veterans.

The author builds on the work of Jonathan Shay (Achilles in Vietnam: Combat Trauma and the Undoing of Character; Odysseus in America: Combat Trauma and the Trials of Homecoming), a neuroscientist turned psychiatrist, who specializes in treating post-traumatic stress disorder in combat veterans. Both Shay and Meagher draw on the classical Greek epic and dramatic literary traditions to demonstrate that the universally devastating effects of combat on the human psyche are as old as Western Civilization itself.

The roles of community and friendship in helping veterans heal and reintegrate into society emerge as strong themes both in the play itself and Meagher's commentary on the purpose of Greek drama. The disaster currently unfolding in Iraq and the related scandalous neglect uncovered at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center make works of this type relevant and timely.

This book makes a wonderful complement to War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning by Chris Hedges.