Talk:Lament

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[edit] Odyssey

I can't think of a lament in the Odyssey. Is there one? Several in the Iliad, I know. Andrew Dalby 19:06, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

In Book 8, where Odysseus is in Antinuous' castle and the blind bard, Demodocus, is singing Odysseus' story and of the Trojan war. The tale is captivating but also sad, causing Odysseus to cry. That would probably be the most evident lament in The Odyssey. --GParan (talk) 19:31, 23 March 2008 (UTC)

I'd say that the whole freakin thing is a lament, I mean look at it: his life sucks. That seems pretty lamentable to me. Not to mention, isn't Odysseus the speaker?--Agreatguy6 21:19, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, two possible answers. A "lament" (as a literary genre) is a poem composed and performed to mourn someone who has just died; that's how I understand it, anyway, and that's why I said there are some laments incorporated in the Iliad (for example, Andromache's lament for Hector) but none in the Odyssey.

But the article is just a stub as yet; whoever develops it may have a different view of what laments can be, so I'll leave it as it is. Thanks! Andrew Dalby 20:26, 23 March 2008 (UTC)