Figurative Language In The Iliad

The Iliad Paper
"Polonius, ‘What do you read my Lord?' Hamlet, ‘Words, words, words.'" -Shakespeare, Hamlet, II, ii, 193-4. Reading, writing, speaking, these are the things that define our humanity. Without words or the ability of speech we would once again be equal to the animals we preside over. In the scheme of time we have perfected this human ability above all else; we teach it, correct it, and embellish it to no end. Even so stories may be told in many different ways, simply by altering the way we write. The Iliad is written as an original epic written in Greek, by Homer, which has been translated many times over by English novelists so that we too can enjoy this riveting tale of Achilles' rage. Though translating the book is
The first selection of the two is a novel, written out in paragraphs as to give the reader an easy read through of battles, ill-tempered old men, and seemingly unimportant women. Therein lies our problem, The Iliad is not a short story, it is not a quick read to which anyone could simply just put away when finished, this is a work of art. Admittedly it is hard to read about so many deaths in the same way over and over again, and see the same pain, the same agony and despair, without the distraction of pretty words, in a plain novel. Putting this intense story in prose doesn't nearly do it the justice it deserves. Although this tale is interesting enough, being put into epic form seems to put everything in its place. Reading The Iliad as an epic poem brings life to the dull moments, brings life to the empty pages and fills them with words that can amuse, distract, even
Diction is defined as an author's choice of words to fit their context, also a spoken clarity in which words are easily understood. In our two versions of The Iliad the first has poetic impulse that when the words are spoken, it is given a beautiful sound and rhyme. This diction also works as word choice, and seeing as the epic version is meant to have a certain higher quality of vocabulary that must flow and proceed in a superior manner, the words chosen are, in short, better. The prose version is written entirely so the point is brought across and told. The plain writing and lack of rhyme scheme give diction in the sense that it is easy to understand, there is no extra wording to get around, and the story is told up right. The quality of words is brought down a bit and the story is given beginning to end as a plain