Which aspect of life in the middle ages is most reflected in passage one?

Which is the most effective paraphrase of the passage "six benches were left empty in every ship that evening when we pulled away from death. and this new grief we bore with us to sea: our precious lives we had, but not our friends" - the odyssey

In twelve years a slave, northup realizes he cannot trust anyone after his kidnapping except hamilton and brown god the physician the women who gave him drink

Hyperbole in the book messenger by lois lowry