The connection that servicemembers and veterans have with those who served before us is deep. We revere Lewis “Chesty” Puller, Audie Murphy and John Boyd, not only for their heroism on the battlefields of yore, but also for their contributions to our fighting profession. They inspire us and set the standards by which we judge ourselves. We take the legacy they left us very seriously. But our attraction to warriors of the past goes further back in history, as we also feel an immense kinship and respect for the soldiers and heroes of the classical world.
Antiquity is full of heroes both real and mythical. Alexander, King Leonidas, Hannibal and Caesar stand out as legendary military leaders and tacticians whose impact on the world is still visible today, and we idolize the tough and brutal men they led into battle. Greek mythology gave us Perseus, Theseus, Hercules and Jason, just to name a few. And any discussion of heroes of the past must include Achilles, Ajax, Odysseus and other characters from Homer’s “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey.”
What is it about these heroes that attracts us so much? They were of course heroic. But they were much more than that. They personify the martial spirit we seek to emulate. Alexander defeated a much larger enemy and reduced the powerful Achaemenid Persian Empire with only 35,000 men. He took his army from the Levant to the Baes River in modern India. Hannibal’s double envelopment and destruction of the Roman army at Cannae is considered the gold standard of battlefield victories. Ajax single-handedly resisted the Trojan army, saving the day for his fellow Greeks.
Appreciation of the martial spirit of the ancients is also evidenced by the adoption of many of their symbols and sayings by military units, businesses that cater to the military community, and individuals in and out of uniform. We’ve all seen the malevolent look Corinthian helmetfor example, with its plunging cheek guards, dark eyes and flowing crest, adorning patches and logos.
While these legendary men sometimes seem larger than life and were idealized in many ways, they were also very real and, like us, very complex. It is clear from reading ancient sources that these heroes cherished many of the same virtues that we value: honor, loyalty, courage, perseverance, ingenuity, and adaptability. For example, Homer tells us that Ajax and Odysseus fight the Trojans alone to recover the body of Achilles so that they can give him a proper burial. This echoes the sentiment that we leave no one behind. Odysseus, on a decade-long return journey after his deployment to Troy, displayed ingenuity and cunning. When he is captured by the Cyclops Polyphemus, Odysseus tells him that his name is Nobody. After blinding Polyphemus so he could escape, the Cyclops cried out for help, saying, “No one blinded me!” » The other Cyclops ignored him and he continued to endure and triumph over other trials. This says nothing of Odysseus’ most famous act of cunning, that of ending the ten-year siege of Troy with a wooden horse. It is interesting to note that while the Greeks worshiped Odysseus, the Romans insulted him, thinking that such deceit and deceit had no place among honorable men.
However, our military has a long history of using deception to achieve victory, from the ever-changing camouflage to the creation of the first fictional U.S. Army Group as Operation Fortitude. Odysseus would be proud.
Despite their many virtues, these characters were flawed and vulnerable. Although in many ways no less powerful, and certainly blessed by the gods, they absolutely lacked the aura of invincibility that many of our modern mythological figures possess. This is part of the reason why they are so accessible and so similar to us, even after thousands of years. It’s hard to believe that Superman or Wolverine will ever achieve such enduring appreciation among future fighters. It is important to note that it is difficult for us to view our own war heroes as vulnerable because they are too close to us; being known almost solely for their commendable acts of heroism in combat, they become one-dimensional.
We have no such problems with those of antiquity. They are literally portrayed as imperfect, and in some cases their flaws, despite their virtues, actually define them. Achilles had his heel. He was also governed by his rage. After killing Hector in single combat, Achilles, in his grief, hung the body of the Trojan horse on his chariot and desecrated it, dragging it during the funeral games organized for his friend Patroclus.
These myths and legendary men remain relevant today despite the two millennia or more that have passed. Not only are their victories and defeats studied by military tacticians and strategists, but their stories show us that the nature of war and its impacts on the warriors who fight have not changed, even with all our technological advances. At the heart of these myths and war stories from ancient times are combatants engaged in life and death struggles. They shared with their comrades the same intimate bonds and the same struggles that we share with ours today.
Dr. Jonathan Shay, in his books “Ulysses in America and Achilles in Vietnam,” suggests that the heroes of Homer’s works may have suffered from post-traumatic stress, or what he calls moral injuries, as a result of their exposure to the rigors of combat. Homer’s works were not tales of adventure and glory, but tragedies depicting men affected by war. And these myths help today’s veterans cope with their experiences. The Theater of War organization hosts readings of classic plays and poems, such as Sophocles’ “Ajax” and “Philoctetes,” for veterans to help them understand that PTSD is an illness that even veterans suffer from. ancient warriors. Founder Bryan Doerries recently published a book with the same name. Another organization, Voices for Veterans, uses mythology encourage veterans to talk about their experiences among peers.
We know we owe much to those who came before us, from Patton and Petraeus to Alexander and Odysseus. This is our martial heritage and we admire the heroes and warriors of antiquity. Although we can appreciate them for their virtues and their faults, we can recognize that they have much to teach us. Not just about the war, but about ourselves.
