Tag Archives: Mental health

War, Combat Trauma, and Poetry: Evidence for PTSD in the Latin Verse Inscriptions?

Posted on November 13, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

In my previous blog post, I introduced a text that provides an (albeit anecdotal) unusual view on the Roman army, its drill, its effectiveness, and the dehumanising, romanticising narratives that prevail around it. The further one delves into the world … Continue reading →

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Fruit of the Doom: an Image of Life, Death, and Letting Go in Roman Poetry

Posted on November 9, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

Death has been on my mind lately, having recently learnt of the untimely passing of two of my colleagues at the University of Reading. Whether death was imminent or came suddenly, whether it hits the old or the young – … Continue reading →

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Sadness, Weariness, and Laughter: An Ancient Latin Poem on Occasion of Mental Health Awareness Week 2015

Posted on May 14, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

Between 11-17 May 2015 it is Mental Health Awareness Week, when the Mental Health Foundation, like every year, helps to raise awareness of mental health and wellbeing issues. Mental health is hard to define. On their webpages, the Mental Health … Continue reading →

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Buried Above Ground

Posted on February 2, 2015 by Peter Kruschwitz

The idea that the body is a prison-house or, more drastically still, a tomb of the soul – often shortened to the phrase soma sema – is an ancient one. Rooted in Orphic (rather than Pythagorean) thought, it finds its first … Continue reading →

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Sick Of It All

Posted on December 4, 2014 by Peter Kruschwitz

Recent days saw a great number of reports, analyses, and comments on the death of Stefan Grimm, late professor of toxicology at Imperial College, London. Several of these items contained copies of emails that (allegedly) were sent in the context … Continue reading →

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