For my independent reading journal I have continued reading The Odyssey by Homer. Needless to say, progress has been a slow but enjoyable experience. At one point in the story, Menelaus tells Telemachus (very lengthily) how Aegisthus described the bloodshed that occurred at a feast meant to ambush someone. As a result, neither side had any surviving men. While reading this moment, I found one sentence from Menelaus that stuck out to me:
” ‘So spake he, and my spirit within me was broken, and I wept as I sat upon the sand, nor was I minded any more to live and see the light of the sun.’ ” (p. 60)
This sentence gives me a very vivid image of what Menelaus would have looked like in that moment. Although the writing only hints at his surroundings, my imagination fills in the rest. The way this moment is described makes me understand the crushing sorrow he must be feeling. The sentence is short and simple, but it is able to contain so much meaning that people can relate to. I’m lucky enough to have never had someone close to me killed, but I can imagine the grief felt by someone who experienced that.