The devastating humiliation of shame here receives an in-depth psychological study. Edelman draws from many fields beyond the clinical-classical scholarship, Jungian thought, mythology, philosophy and theology―to find meaning and eventually healing the paralysis of shame. Of central importance is the image of the hideous Gorgon worn on Athene's breastplate and the possibilities for understanding shame with the help of Athene. An exemplary and highly readable study of how gods and diseases connect.