There’s a scene in the Odyssey that I don’t think I’ve heard anyone talk about, but it’s one of my favourites.

In Book IV, Telemachus visits King Menelaus in Sparta, searching for news of his father. They’re sitting in a palace so lavish that Telemachus whispers in awe to his buddy that it would put the House of Zeus to shame. Menelaus overhears this and begins lamenting about the Trojan War, at one point saying:

Well, would to god I’d stayed right here in my own house

with a third of all that wealth and they were still alive,

all who died on the wide plain of Troy those years ago,

far from the stallion-land of Argos.

Yup. Not all of his wealth, even hypothetically. Just 66%. To bring back all of his compatriots and friends from Hades.

This moment is both hilarious and a masterclass in character development through dialogue.