Though the subject is rarely discussed today, both the Iliad and Odyssey employ humor strategically to enhance their different visions of human existence. Where the Iliad embellishes its plot with moments of humor that, laced with dark irony, accentuate the tragic distance separating our shared mortal condition from sublime heroic ideals and divine immortality, the Odyssey incorporates humor and proto-comedic structures into its plot more organically and in a manner that celebrates human resilience, diversifies the aristocratic concepts of heroism found in the Iliad, and redistributes heroic virtues among its broader spectrum of more realistic human characters.