More on acetabular fractures: the Trojan War and the Roman Empire
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LETTER
More on acetabular fractures: the Trojan War and the Roman Empire J.-P. Jantzen
Received: 6 December 2012 / Accepted: 30 January 2013 / Published online: 12 February 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
To the Editor, Volume 38, issue 5 of the European Journal of Trauma and Emergency Surgery includes a focus on acetabular fractures, accompanied by an editorial [1]. Maybe a historical vignette is warranted, making reference to the very first well-documented case of a trauma victim, having survived that particular injury. He was not an ordinary man but Venus’ son Aeneas, one of the most prominent heroes of the Trojan War—and founding father of the Roman Empire. According to Roman mythology, Rhea Silvia, daughter of King Numitor Silvius, was seduced by Mars and subsequently gave birth to the twins Romulus and Remus. Numitor was the 11th degree grandson of Aeneas, who— after the doom and destruction of Troy—had left for Italy with his son Ascanius, founding the city of Alba Longa there, later to become Rome. As described in the 5th book of Homer’s Iliad, the injury was inflicted upon him in combat on the Trojan battlefield [2] (Fig. 1):
‘‘The stone crushed this joint, and broke both the sinews, while its jagged edges tore away all the flesh.’’ Traumatic shock led to loss of consciousness:
‘‘But the son of Tydeus [Diomed] caught up a mighty stone, so huge and great that as men now are it would take two to lift it; nevertheless he bore it aloft with ease unaided, and with this he struck Aeneas on the groin where the hip turns in the joint that is called the ‘cup-bone.’’’ The impact resulted in a grade IIIA/IIIB fracture (Gustilo open fracture classification):
J.-P. Jantzen (&) Krankenhaus Nordstadt, Hannover, Germany e-mail: [email protected]
Fig. 1 Aeneas (left), Pandarus (center), and Diomed (right) with the rock. Aeneas and Diomed, Wenzel Hollar (1607–1677) (courtesy of Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum)
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‘‘The hero fell on his knees, and propped himself with his hand resting on the ground till the darkness of night fell upon his eyes.’’ Fatal outcome was, however, prevented, owing to the immediate response of a divine rescue system: ‘‘And now Aeneas, king of men, would have perished then and there, had not … Venus … been quick to mark, and thrown her two white arms about the body of her dear son.’’ The outcome eventually was satisfactory, as indicated by the subsequent course of Roman history…
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J.-P. Jantzen Conflict of interest
None.
References 1. Lehmann W. Pelvic and acetabular fractures (editorial). Eur J Trauma Emerg Surg. 2012;38(5):487–8. 2. Homer: The Iliad. Translation: S. Butler. The Internet Classics Archive by D.C. Stevenson, Web Atomics. http://classics.mit.edu// Homer/iliad.html.
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