Exploring Homeric Similes: Epic Comparisons and Analysis

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Delve into the world of epic similes and epithets with a focus on Homer's works. Discover the beauty of these literary devices through vivid comparisons like a sponge absorbing water and a musician strumming a harp. Unravel the hidden meanings behind passages comparing suitors to caught fish and Odysseus stringing his bow effortlessly. Engage in creating your very own Homeric simile that bridges the ordinary with the extraordinary.

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EPIC SIMILES & EPITHETS P E R R Y H I G H S C H O O L L I N D S E Y T I L L M A N

SIMILE Comparison using like or as

EPIC SIMILE Great length Detail Several lines An elaborate, involved version of a regular simile Used for Emphasis

EPIC SIMILE STRUCTURE Often (not always starts with as Comparison with VIVID detail [As] A man in a distant field, no hearthfires near, will hide a fresh brand* in his bed of embers to keep a spark alive for the next day; so in the leaves Odysseus hid himself while over him Athena showered sleep that his distress should end, and soon, soon Connects the two parts Action of the plot

EPIC SIMILE STRUCTURE A sponge absorbing water expands to inconceivable volume, the pores taking on liquid that makes a small, brittle wedge into a dripping, stuffed cube, just so the students eyes widened when they gazed upon their first homework assignment, the paper ever to be inked.

WHAT IS THE SIMILE COMPARING IN THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE? Think of a catch that fishermen haul in to a halfmoon bay in a fine meshed net from the white caps of the sea :how all are poured out on the sand, in throes for the salt sea, twitching their cold lives away in Helios' fiery air: so lay the suitors heaped on one another."

EPIC SIMILE ANALYSIS Answer the following: 1. What two things are being compared? 2. What does this simile emphasize? 3. What s the purpose of the comparison? Why would Homer write it like this? . . .like a musician, like a harp player, when with a quiet hand upon his instrument he draws between his thumb and forefinger a sweet new string upon a peg: so effortlessly Odysseus in one motion strung the bow. then slid his right hand down the cord and plucked it. So the taut gut vibrating hummed and sung a swallow s note (478).

CREATE ONE HOMERIC SIMILE Make sure they compare an ordinary, every-day thing with something readers may not have encountered. a space launch the surface of the moon a professional dancer or athlete something viewed under a microscope

EPITHETS Brief descriptive phrases characterizes a particular person or thing

WHAT EPITHETS ARE IN THE FOLLOWING PASSAGE? Son of Laertes and the gods of old, Odysseus, master mariner and soldier, you shall not stay here longer against your will (Homer 10.21-22).