What then is left to admire in the _Iliad_? It is well to remember
that the poem is not the first but the last of a long series; its very
perfection of form and language makes it certain that it is the result
of a long literary tradition. As such, it has one or two remarkable
features. We shall not find in many other Epics that sense of wistful
sorrow for man's brief and uncertain life which is the finest breath
of all poetry that seeks to touch the human heart. The marks of rude
or crude workmanship which disfigure much Epic have nearly all
disappeared from the _Iliad_. The characterisation of many of the
figures of the poem is masterly, their very natures being hit off in a
few lines--and it is important to remember that it is not really the
business of Epic to attempt analysis of character at all except very
briefly; the story cannot be kept waiting. But the real Homeric power
is displayed in the famous scenes of pure and worthy pathos such as
the parting of Andromache from Hector and the laments over his body.
Those who would learn how to touch great depths of sorrow and remain
dignified must see how it has been treated in the _Iliad_.

A few vigorous lines hit off the plan of the _Odyssey_.

"Sing, Muse, of the man of much wandering who travelled right far
after sacking sacred Troy, and saw the cities of many men and knew
their ways. Many a sorrow he suffered on the sea, trying to win a
return home for himself and his comrades; yet he could not for all
his longing, for they died like fools through their own blindness."

Odysseus, when the poem opens, was in Calypso's isle pitied of all the
gods save Poseidon. In a council Zeus gave his consent that Hermes
should go to Calypso, while Athena should descend to Ithaca to
encourage Odysseus' son Telemachus to seek out news of his father.