A 2,000-year history of chucking a sickie
Dallas and John Heaton/GettyOne of the earliest figures known to have faked an illness for personal advantage was Odysseus.
Odysseus was the hero of Homer’s Odyssey, which was probably written around the 8th century BC, but based on much older legends.
According to one version of the story, Odysseus pretended to be mentally ill to avoid...




