Great Books

Homer's surpassing artfulness...

There's this incredible moment in the Odyssey (VIII.525ff) when Odysseus is listening to singer sing about the Trojan Horse – Odysseus' invention for tricking the Trojans, and hence sacking their city, and their women.

Odysseus weeps at the story. But why? For his lost comrades? For what he suffered Homer gives us a hint that it's something deeper by saying that Odysseus wept:

"as a woman weeps, lying over the body of her dear husband...while the men behind her hitting her with their spear butts on the back and shoulders, force her up, and lead her away into slavery..."

Odysseus weeps in the very same way as the collateral damage of his own action. What an artful way to demonstrate the depth of his humanity, and the heaviness of war.