Entire picture sideways to check symmetry of the trees reflection. The reflection does not match in the bottom quarter. This distortion of Nature (reflection not matching the trees) supports the idea that that area represents something other than the reflection of the trees.
On the right is a detail image from an area of the water. When I first looked at this section, it did not look like trees reflected in the water, which is what it should be in the context of the picture. Instead, that area seemed to be a self contained abstract representation. It appeared to be a scene with perspective and depth, people walking away. The black area made me think of a blood bath. They are walking away from us, and I imagine I see some with crutches. That reminded me of Homer's sketch "The Walking Wounded," although that sketch does not look anything like this image, its subject is the same. The deer escaping from the hunter is analogous to the walking wounded escaping from a blood bath.
I wondered if the reflection matched the trees, so I rotated the full picture 90 degrees, in order to see whether the tree reflection is symmetrical. The reflection in the water does not match the trees on the shoreline. This hardly noticeable distortion of Nature is an indication that the reflection may actually represent something other than or in addition to the trees.
These spectulative thoughts might be on track. At this point with this single instance, there is not enough to support any real conclusions, but it is possible that this is something Homer may have done in other works. We should remember this instance. A pattern might eventually emerge that could make this more plausible.