Homeric Simile | Definition & Examples
A Homeric simile is a detailed comparison between two things that continues for several lines. It typically occurs in epic poetry, particularly in the works of the ancient Greek poet Homer, such as the Iliad and the Odyssey. Homeric similes often draw their imagery from nature or everyday life to help audiences visualize dramatic moments in the story.
when it rings clearly, when rapacious enemies
besiege a city—that’s how sharp and piercing
Achilles’ voice was then.
What is a Homeric simile?
A Homeric simile, also called an epic simile, is an elaborate comparison between heroic or extraordinary events in epic poetry and everyday occurrences. It typically begins with “like” or “as” and contains a detailed description of a character, action, or setting spanning several lines of verse.
In the example above, Achilles’ voice is likened to the clear sound of a trumpet call during a city siege; the Homeric simile uses a familiar sound from wartime to convey the urgency and intensity of Achilles’ voice, helping audiences imagine his commanding presence in the battlefield.
While Homeric similes took their name from Homer, who used them extensively, similar literary devices can be found in other works, such as Virgil’s Aeneid and John Milton’s Paradise Lost.
Characteristics of Homeric similes
Homeric similes share the following characteristics:
- Length: In contrast to a typical simile, which is usually a short comparison spanning one or two lines, an epic simile is a more extensive comparison that explores the relationship between the two subjects over several lines.
- Themes: Epic similes draw parallels between heroic or grand actions and familiar elements from nature, animals, and everyday tasks like farming or herding—topics that resonate with the audience.
- Detail: An epic simile does more than just compare; it thoroughly explores the relationship between the two subjects, providing a richer experience for the reader.
These qualities set Homeric similes apart as vivid and memorable narrative tools. They offer readers a unique way to connect with the story’s depth and complexity.
Purpose of Homeric similes
Homeric similes are more than just aesthetic additions to the text, and they serve multiple purposes:
- Enhancing imagery: They create vivid pictures in the reader’s mind, making scenes more relatable and engaging. Because in ancient times epic poetry was transmitted orally, this technique helped listeners visualize intense or unfamiliar scenes by drawing parallels to more common things.
- Character development: Homeric similes provide insights into a character’s traits and emotional state. When a character is compared to a snake waiting in its lair, it reveals qualities such as patience, vigilance, or hidden aggression.
- Pacing: These extended comparisons can slow down the narrative pace, allowing for reflection on significant moments in the story. Through these pauses, the audience has the opportunity to fully absorb the intensity of the action or emotion being portrayed.
- Add emotional depth: Homeric similes turn simple actions into meaningful experiences. For instance, comparing Patroclus’s blow to the force needed to fell an oak adds depth, transforming the fight into a significant moment.
Homeric simile examples
The following Homeric similes from the Odyssey intensify dramatic moments in the narrative by drawing vivid comparisons to familiar, everyday scenes, deepening the emotional impact of the story.
| A huge wave shatters Odysseus’s raft (5.368-370): The wave splitting Odysseus’s raft is compared to a storm wind scattering dry straw in every direction. | Just as a storm wind scatters dry straw in a heap, blowing pieces here and there in all directions— that’s how that huge wave split the long planks on the raft. |
| Odysseus is overjoyed to see Phaeacia (5.394-399): Odysseus’s joy at seeing land is likened to the joy children feel when a sick father finally recovers from long, painful illness. | Just as young children rejoice to see life in a father who lies sick, in savage pain through a lengthy wasting illness, with a malicious god afflicting him, and then, to their delight, the gods release him from disease, that is how Odysseus rejoiced when he could see the land and forests. |
| Odysseus is eager to begin his journey home (13.31-35.): Odysseus’s eagerness to set out is compared to the delight of a farmer, weary from plowing, as he anticipates a meal at day’s end. | Just as a man longs for supper, when all day long a pair of wine-dark oxen pull a well-made plough through fallow land for him, and as the sun goes down, the sight delights him—now he can prepare a meal, for both his knees are weary when he moves—that’s how Odysseus rejoiced to see the sunlight disappear. |
| Penelope is overjoyed to be reunited with Odysseus (23.233-239): Penelope’s joy at reuniting with Odysseus is likened to the relief of shipwreck survivors reaching land after barely escaping disaster at sea. | Just as swimmers are overjoyed to catch a glimpse of land, sailors whose sturdy ship Poseidon has demolished out at sea, as winds and surging waves were driving it, and a few men have escaped the gray sea by swimming to the shore, their bodies thickly caked with brine, and they are glad to clamber up on land, evading a disaster, that is how Penelope rejoiced to see her husband. |
The following similes from the Iliad transform the unfamiliar—divine actions and scenes of war—to relatable imagery drawn from everyday life.
| The Achaean troops respond to Agamemnon’s call to arms (2.394-397):
The roaring response of the Greek army is compared to powerful waves crashing against a cliff face during a storm. |
Argives answered Agamemnon with a mighty roar, like waves by a steep cliff crashing on the rock face, lashed by South Wind’s blasts, always foaming on the rock, whipped on by every wind gusting here and there. |
| Hephaestus’s fire burns the river Xanthus (21.362-365):
The burning of the river Xanthus by Hephaestus is compared to pig fat boiling and bubbling over in a cauldron heated by dry wood |
Just as a cauldron with hot flames heating it boils inside and melts the fat from off a well-fed hog, bubbling over, once dry split wood is set down under it—that’s how the fire burned that lovely stream. |
| Hera’s horses move swiftly toward the battlefield (5.770-772): the stride length of Hera’s divine horses is compared to the vast distance a person can see when looking out across the sea from a high vantage point. | As far as a man on a height can see in the distant haze as he looks out across the wine-dark sea, that’s how far gods’ snorting horses vault in just one stride. |
| Diomedes kills the sleeping Thracian soldiers (10.485-488): Diomedes killing the sleeping Thracian soldiers is compared to a lion attacking an unguarded flock of sheep. | Just as a lion comes across an unguarded flock of sheep or goats and leaps on them, heart thirsting for the kill, so Tydeus’s son went at those Thracian soldiers, until he’d slaughtered twelve. |
Frequently asked questions about Homeric simile
- What is a Homeric simile example?
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The following lines from the Iliad (6.146-150), where human generations are compared to leaves growing and falling each season, contain an example of Homeric simile (also known as epic simile):
“Generations of men are like the leaves.
In winter, winds blow them down to earth,
but then, when spring season comes again,
the budding wood grows more. And so with men—
one generation grows, another dies away.” - What is the difference between a Homeric simile and a regular simile?
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Their primary difference lies in their length and level of detail. A Homeric simile (also known as an epic simile) is longer and more elaborate, often extending over several lines to explore the comparison in depth. In contrast, a regular simile is a concise, direct comparison, typically limited to a single line.
