Question

read the excerpt from part 1 of the odyssey.
and this new grief we bore with us to sea:
our precious lives we had, but not our friends.
no ship made sail next day until some shipmate
had raised a cry, three times, for each poor ghost
unfleshed by the cicones on that field.
what theme is best revealed by this conflict?
○ sadness can destroy people.
○ one must mourn before moving on.
○ many lives are lost too soon in battle.
○ people are haunted by lost souls.

Explanation:

The excerpt from The Odyssey shows the crew mourning their lost friends (ghosts unflayed by Cicones) before sailing. The conflict here relates to the need to grieve before proceeding. Option A is too extreme (sadness “destroying” isn’t shown). Option C focuses on battle deaths but the theme is about mourning, not just the loss count. Option D suggests being “haunted” in a spooky way, but the text is about mourning, not being haunted. Option B matches: they mourn (raise a cry three times for each ghost) before moving on (sailing next day).

Answer:

B. One must mourn before moving on.