Student Question
What page of "The Odyssey" contains the line about Odysseus weeping like a mourning wife?
"And Odysseus let the bright molten tears run down his cheeks, weeping the way a wife mourns for her lord on the lost field where he has gone down fighting"
Quick answer:
The line comparing Odysseus's weeping to a mourning wife is found in Robert Fagles' 1996 translation of The Odyssey on page 208. It describes Odysseus weeping as "great Odysseus melted into tears," likening his sorrow to that of a woman mourning her husband who fell in battle. In a PDF version, this simile appears on page 133. This passage highlights Odysseus's deep emotional pain and vulnerability.
I could not find the exact wording of your quote; however, I found a very similar epic simile on page 208 of the Robert Fagles 1996 book version. The same simile can be found on page 133 of The Odyssey PDF found here.
Here is the epic simile where Odysseus' crying is compared to "the way a wife mourns for her lord on the lost field where he has gone down fighting":
"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" (208).
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