So all these great and terrible events come from one thing — how people see things? Yes, that's the only source. The entire Iliad is nothing but people's opinions and how they acted on them. Alexander saw it as right to steal Menelaus's wife. Helen saw it as right to go with him. But what if Menelaus had seen losing such a wife as a blessing? What would have happened then? We wouldn't have the Iliad. We wouldn't have the Odyssey either. Such massive events hung on such a small thing — how one person chose to see his situation.
So then all these great and dreadful deeds have this origin, in the appearance (opinion)? Yes, this origin and no other. The Iliad is nothing else than appearance and the use of appearances. It appeared to Alexander to carry off the wife of Menelaus. It appeared to Helene to follow him. If then it had appeared to Menelaus to feel that it was a gain to be deprived of such a wife, what would have happened? Not only would the Iliad have been lost, but the Odyssey also. On so small a matter then did such great things depend?