Reunions can be nostalgic and painful as well as happy – as the ancient Greek heroes Achilles and Odysseus show us

Celebrations are a joyous time of reuniting with family and friends. But afterward, people can sometimes be left uneasily mulling over their relationships. Annual returns home can induce an uncomfortable nostalgia in the tension between how the past is remembered and how the present is experienced.

As someone who studies ancient Greek myth and poetry, I often find myself making sense of my own life through my work. Even though many Greek myths are infamous for disturbing topics such as infanticide and incest, ancient audiences did look to their stories to make sense of themselves and their world.

The bittersweetness of family relationships and reunions turns out to be an important theme.

Heroes and families

What most people may remember from Greek myth are heroes like Hercules or Theseus, who make the world safe for other human beings by...