“Meanwhile Circe had been seeing that the men who had been left behind were washed and anointed with olive oil; she had also given them woollen cloaks and shirts, and when we came we found them all comfortably at dinner in her house. As soon as the men saw each other face to face and knew one another, they wept for joy and cried aloud till the whole palace rang again. Thereon Circe came up to me and said, ‘Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, tell your men to leave off crying; I know how much you have all of you suffered at sea, and how ill you have fared among cruel savages on the mainland, but that is over now, so stay here, and eat and drink till you are once more as strong and hearty as you were when you left Ithaca; for at present you are weakened both in body and mind; you keep all the time thinking of the hardships you have suffered during your travels, so that you have no more cheerfulness left in you.’Odyssey 10.39 · Odyssey · 10
Odyssey 10.39
Odyssey · translated by Samuel Butler
Themes in this passage
SufferingChildrenGriefJoyStrengthRebirth
Suffering in other traditions
The same theme, as Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam address it.
The evil-doer suffers in this world, and he suffers in the next; he suffers in both. He suffers when he thinks of the evil he has done; he suffers more when going on the evil path.Dhp 1.17 · Dhammapada · The Twin-Verses
Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the wormwood and the gall.Lamentations 3:19 · Bible · Lamentations
I will console this afflicted girl of face like the full moon, and suffering distress that she had never before endured, and ever meditating on her lord.’Mbh 3.68.1c · Mahabharata · VANA PARVA
Relent not in pursuit of the enemy. If ye are suffering, lo! they suffer even as ye suffer and ye hope from Allah that for which they cannot hope. Allah is ever Knower, Wise.Quran 4:104 · Quran · Women
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