That was the song the famous harper sang
but great Odysseus melted into tears,
running down from his eyes to wet his cheeks…
as a woman weeps, her arms flung round her darling husband,
a man who fell in battle, fighting for town and townsmen,
trying to beat the day of doom from home and children.
Seeing the man go down, dying, gasping for breath,
she clings for dear life, screams and shrills –
but the victors, just behind her,
digging spear-butts into her back and shoulders,
drag her off in bondage, yoked to hard labor, pain,
and the most heartbreaking torment wastes her cheeks.
So from Odysseus’ eyes ran tears of heartbreak now.
– Homer
The Odyssey, Book 8, lines 585-597. Odysseus bursts into tears listening to the story of suffering and heroism sung by the bard Demodocus. Homer gives us an extraordinary epic simile comparing Odysseus’ heartbreak at losing comrades in the Trojan War to a wife sobbing over the body of her dying husband who falls in battle. The despairing woman is about to be taken away in slavery by the victors. The imagery here tells of deep emotional pain. It is clear that the grieving woman that Odysseus is being compared to is Trojan. For in the Trojan War it was Odysseus’ foes who were "fighting for town and townsmen."