<span>Because it was a trial. Elpenor was drunk when Odysseus and his crew were finally leaving Circe’s island. He was climbing down from her roof when he slipped from a ladder and broke his neck. In the commotion, no one noticed his accident. Later, when Odysseus visits Hades to get advice on how to return home from the ghost of Tiresias, he is shocked to encounter the shade of Elpenor. He hadn’t even realized he was missing, let alone dead. Elpenor begs Odysseus to return and to give him an honorable burial. So now Odysseus is forced to sail all the way back to Circe’s island to fulfill this new obligation. It becomes one more task that he must accomplish before he can return home to Ithaca—otherwise known as a trial.</span>
Most authors make typos like the one mentioned in order to give you a clear image as to how the narrator tells the story and in what mood the theme is set.
Hope this helps!
During those months Rachel's mother looked after Aaron with something close to genuine fondness-- not pity, not obligation-- as though Aaron had become the son she always wanted.
This sentence flows very nicely and also makes sense. You can see that the punctuation is proper, the sentence makes sense, and the grammar is correct. With that in mind, that it the correct sentence structure.
