Combat Trauma and the Tragic Stage: "Restoration" by Cultural Catharsis (original) (raw)

Intertexts, Vol 16, No.1, 2012

e e ects of combat trauma are well described in the dramatic literature of the Ancient Greeks: the madness of Herakles, the rage of Achilles, the suicide of Ajax, the isolation of Philoctetes, and the trials of Odysseus, to name just a few. Much of the narrative content of Athenian tragedy re ected a preoccupation with the consequences of violence and war. ese plays were produced at a time of almost constant con ict in the Greek world where warfare was an ever-present threat. In Athens, where political enfranchisement was dependent on military service, the development of tragedy was closely linked with rapid social changes in political and military culture, responses to external and internal martial threats. Perhaps this is why Athenian tragedy re ects a deep and frequently disturbing anxiety about warfare, combat, and violence. In this paper, I suggest that Athenian tragedy o ered a form of performance-based collective "catharsis" or "cultural therapy" by providing a place where the traumatic experiences faced by the spectators was re ected upon the gaze of the masked characters performing before them. 2 My focus here will be on the notion of nostos or "homecoming" as perceived by combat veterans, their families and the society to which they have returned.