Italian police have arrested a 38-year-old man who bizarrely stopped to read a book on Greek mythology while attempting to burgle a house in Rome.
The would-be thief gained entry to an elderly homeowner's residence via the balcony but got no further than the victim's bedside table, where he became distracted by a book about Homer's Iliad.
The 71-year-old occupant awoke and confronted the intruder, who promptly fled the scene. However, authorities later arrested the suspect in Rome's Prati district.
According to Italian media reports, the arrested man claimed he had mistakenly entered what he thought was a B&B to visit a friend.
Upon his arrest, the man was found in possession of a bag containing expensive clothing, allegedly stolen from another house earlier that evening.
The book that caught the burglar's attention was "The Gods at Six O'Clock" by Giovanni Nucci, which explains the Iliad from the perspective of the gods.
Nucci, when informed of the incident, told Il Messaggero: "It's fantastic."
He added: "I'd like to find the person 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."
The author concluded: "It's a surreal story, but also full of humanity."
