The artistry of the Homeric simile

Abstract

In addition, I have ordered each chapter to show the clearest examples of the various functions of the simile within the narrative. Thus books 2, 12, and 13 provide the clearest models of similes used to support narrative strategies. In books 3, 4, and 15 the similes do occur in traditional places but do not seem to accompany the development of major themes. An example would be the series of similes in Agamemnon's review of the Greek troops in book 4. It is common for a character to be given a simile when he is introduced into the narrative.24 In his march through the troops Agamemnon comes upon some Greeks who are not arming (fawns, 243), Idomeneus (boar, 253), and the Ajaxes and their soldiers (goatherd seeing a coming whirlwind, 275). These similes are placed where the tradition suggests the simile as one among many options and their subjects seem appropriate for the men described. However, they do not relate meaningfully with the earlier similes of the star (Athena, 75), the mother brushing away the fly (Athena, 130), or the woman staining ivory (Menelaus, 141). Because they lack compelling organization I have chosen to omit these books from major discussion because I cannot find narrative strategies that are equally compelling as those in the other simile-rich books. At this point it is necessary to raise a problem. This study of eleven chosen books depends on demonstrating how closely the design of the similes follows broader thematic developments in each narrative section. For such a discussion it is necessary to identify the major structural units in the Iliad and Odyssey. Book 2 is designed differently than book 1: the locale changes, the entrance of Agamemnon's dream starts off a new series of actions, the focus shifts from individuals to larger groups, and the number of similes increases markedly. Although such contrasts make it easy to assume that most books contain a separately designed unit, it is impossible simply to accept the current book divisions as precise designators of Homer's narrative plan. Often the divisions do not seem reliable: some seem arbitrary, yet others clearly represent authentic breaks in the story that the poet has marked as his own.25 The division between Iliad 1 and 2 seems to me unquestionably authentic,

A Commentary on Quintus of Smyrna, Posthomerica 13

“…On similes generally, see e.g. Nimis 1987, in Homer see Fränkel 1921, Moulton 1974, Moulton 1977, Scott 1974, Larsen 2007, and Scott 2009, in the Posthomerica see Vian 1954, Spinoula 2000, Scheijnen 2011, 127-8, and Scheijnen 2017. See Scheijnen 2018, 39-40 for a quantitative analysis of similes and comparison in the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Argonautica, Triphiodorus, and the Posthomerica.…”

Widowing the Streets of Troy (Il. 5.642): Notes on the Conceptual Basis of a Unique Metaphor in Homer'sIliad

“… 2 Cf. among others Fränkel (1924), Coffey (1957), Moulton (1974) and (1977), Scott (1974) and (2009), Lonsdale (1990), Ben-Porat (1992), Minchin (2001), Ready (2011) and (2017). Also note Muellner (1990), who primarily discusses similes but comments on the relation of simile and metaphor as well.…”

Metonymy, metaphor, Patroklos, Achilles

“…Understanding the way that a given simile relates to other similes that are like 5 Worthy of note is the metaphorical use of the notion of attachment to describe a metonymy. Scott, 1974;Scott, 2009;Muellner, 1990. 8 Lord, 1968: "All the elements in traditional poetry have depth, and our task is to plumb their sometimes hidden recesses; for there will meaning be found.…”