A question asked without expecting an answer, either because the answer is already implied or because what matters is the doubt it exposes.
In the Iliad
alas, what will become of me? It will be a great evil if I flee, out of fear of the crowd; worse still if I am taken alone, for the son of Cronus has put the other Danaans to flight. But why does my heart tell me these things? I know that the base men keep away from war, and that he who distinguishes himself in combat must stand firm, whether he is wounded or wounds another.
The questions "what will become of me?" and "why does my heart tell me these things?" expect no answer from anyone. They serve to show doubt, and the answer he gives himself soon after turns it into decision.
Book XI: The Aristeia of Agamemnon, Odysseus
Alas, wretched ones, why did we give you to King Peleus, a mortal, you who neither grow old nor die? Was it so that you would have sorrows among wretched men? For of all that breathes and crawls upon the earth, nothing is more pitiable than man.
Book XVII: The Fight over Patroclus' Body, Zeus
Xanthus, why do you prophesy death to me? You need not. I myself know it well: my fate is to perish here, far from my dear father and mother; but, even so, I will not stop before I have brought the Trojans to be sated with war.
Book XIX: The End of Wrath, Achilles
But, friend, die you too; why do you lament so? Patroclus died too, who was far better than you.
Book XXI: Achilles and the River, Achilles
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