This is not so much breaking and entering but breaking and studying. A would-be burglar in Rome was caught after stopping to read a book on Greek mythology in the middle of a theft, according to Italian media.
After the 38-year-old burglar had gained access to the apartment via the balcony, it seems he was distracted by a book about Homer’s Iliad on a bedside table. The book in question, The Gods at Six O’Clock, by Giovana Nucci, explains the Iliad from the perspective of the gods.
The 71-year-old homeowner woke up and the book-loving intruder attempted to escape via the balcony. But the alarm had been raised and he was caught a short while later.
When the author heard about the incident, he told Il Messaggero: “I’d like to find the person who was caught red-handed and give him the book, because he’ll have been arrested halfway through reading it. I’d like him to be able to finish it.”
Nucci said that his personal favourite deity was Hermes, the god of thieves, adding: “[Hermes] is also the god of literature, so everything fits”.