Trauma in transition : moving from domestic to military service, and back again, in classical Athens
The historiography surrounding the returning hoplite has thus far focussed on the experience of the man after his return yet, to date, no scholar has examined the homecoming itself. As a result, modern comparisons have been relied upon to fill in the gaps about the hoplite's transition from his military service back into his domestic environment. This has formed the basis of a particular strand of research exploring modern PTSD as a method with which to understand the ancient hoplite's experiences of war and its aftermath. This debate lacks the necessary historical due diligence because it has not yet been established exactly how a hoplite returned home and how this return was experienced. To rectify this gap in our knowledge, this thesis identifies and examines three fundamental transitions undergone by the classical Athenian hoplite as a result of his military service: his departure to war, his homecoming from war having survived, and his homecoming from war having died. Each of these transitions is split in two, examining both the transition within the domestic environment as a member of an oikos, and within the military environment as a member of the army. Drawing upon a wide range of evidence, this thesis
Rees, Owen
Trauma in transition : moving from domestic to military service, and back again, in classical Athens. The historiography surrounding the returning hoplite has thus far focussed on the experience of the man after his return yet, to date, no scholar has examined the homecoming itself. As a result, modern comparisons have been relied upon to fill in the gaps about the hoplite's transition from his military service back into his domestic environment. This has formed the basis of a particular strand of research exploring modern PTSD as a method with which to understand the ancient hoplite's experiences of war and its aftermath. This debate lacks the necessary historical due diligence because it has not yet been established exactly how a hoplite returned home and how this return was experienced. To rectify this gap in our knowledge, this thesis identifies and examines three fundamental transitions undergone by the classical Athenian hoplite as a result of his military service: his departure to war, his homecoming from war having survived, and his homecoming from war having died. Each of these transitions is split in two, examining both the transition within the domestic environment as a member of an oikos, and within the military environment as a member of the army. Drawing upon a wide range of evidence, this thesis
trauma transition move domestic military_service back classical_athens historiography surround return hoplite thus_far focussed experience man return yet date scholar examine itself modern comparison rely_upon fill_gap hoplite transition military_service back domestic environment form_basis particular strand explore modern method ancient hoplite experience war aftermath debate lack necessary historical due yet establish exactly hoplite return home return experience rectify gap_knowledge identifies examine fundamental transition undergone classical_athenian hoplite military_service departure war war survive war die transition split_two examine transition within domestic environment member within military environment member army drawing_upon wide_range evidence