What is an Epic Simile? An Epic simile‚ also referred to as Homeric simile‚ shows a similarity on an elaborate level between two subjects that is described in many lines of poetry. In Homer’s epic‚ The Iliad‚ he uses a number of similes to foreshadow what is to come‚ “to glorify them (characters) and sometimes merely to call attention to them” (Shipp)‚ or battle scenes. In the passage provided‚ Homer compares the battle between the Achaeans and Trojans with conflicts that occur in nature. These
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Summary: The Iliad begins with the Trojan War already in progress. Greek audiences would have been familiar with the background of the story‚ and here a brief summary of events is necessary to help the reader to put these events in context. It is important to remember that these stories had a life outside of Homer: he did not invent his characters or the main events of the epic. He did make key choices regarding which events and characters were to be emphasized and reinterpreted. The Iliad focuses on
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destiny‚ speared or stabbed‚ Let him die! He dies fighting for the fatherland- No dishonor there! He’ll leave behind him wife and sons unscathed‚ His house and estate unharmed- once these Argives Sail for home‚ the fatherland they love.” –The Iliad Book 15 lines 574-580‚ by Homer Today‚ on the plains of Western Anatolia lies the site of one of the most well known and prosperous cities of ancient times‚ Troy. The city in which the so-called blind poet‚ Homer‚ lived; the city that was ambushed
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Erwin Cook asserts‚ “I suggest that the hymn offers a succinct description‚ not only of Herakles‚ but of Greek heroism. The traditional hero thus emerges as a Man of Pain… ” (Cook 149). Being “Men of Pain‚” heroes in ancient literature were known for the violent acts that they committed because it gave them kleos. Whether it be the stabbing of Polyphemus’s eye in the Odyssey‚ or the killing of the Bull of Heaven in The Epic of Gilgamesh‚ these violent actions proved the man is a hero by his ability
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The Shield of Achilles Achilles’ shield wa like no other piece of armor. Eva Brann‚ in her article “Hephaestus’ World: The Shield”‚ described the shield as “the world of the god who makes it but just as much the world of the man who bears it”. Brann‚ in the same article‚ went on to describe such meanings of the shield. Brann explained that in both of Homer’s poems‚ he believed that artifacts‚ chariots‚ garments and shields were all “wonders to behold” but Achilles’ shield was far beyond that.
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What are the ideal characteristics of a Greek warrior in The Iliad? Compare and contrast the characters of Hector and Achilles. How are they alike and different? Do you favor one more than the other? Why? As an ideal‚ the Greek warrior combined superhuman and human qualities. The ideal characteristics included such factors as bravery‚ honor‚ and glory. The aim of every hero is to achieve kleos‚ the “glory” or “renown” that one wins in the eyes of others by performing great deeds. Honor is
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of Mycenaean (pre-Dorian) Sparta‚ the husband of Helen of Troy‚ and a central figure in the Trojan War. He was the son of Atreus and Aerope‚ brother of Agamemnon‚ king of Mycenae and‚ according to the Iliad‚ leader of the Spartan contingent of the Greek army during the War. Prominent in both the Iliad and Odyssey‚ Menelaus was also popular in Greek vase painting and Greek tragedy; the latter more as a hero of the Trojan War than as a member of the doomed House of Atreus. Menelaus fought bravely at
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Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics states‚ that an “Epic often focuses on a hero‚ sometimes semi-divine‚ who performs difficult and virtuous deeds; it frequently involves the interaction between humans and gods” (1). Pope refers to the Iliad and the Odyssey in‚ The Rape of the Lock‚ which shows his focus on human interaction with the gods. Characteristics of epic conventions include: an invocation to a muse; division of the poem into books or cantos; description of a battle; description
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A hero in the modern age can be described as many different things or people. They are courageous people who have done something selfless. Although‚ a hero now can be described as someone people idolize that are not always a hero‚ but a celebrity. Celebrities are often idolized in our modern days because of their fame‚ riches‚ and beauty-many people wish to be them. There are the good heroes in our modern era‚ though they’re the war heroes and people who do something that doesn’t only benefit themselves
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entertain. In the first place‚ heroes are godlike. “Preeminent in their particular sphere of power‚ they impose their will on others with the confidence‚ the unquestioning certainty of their own right and worth that is characteristic of gods”(45‚ Iliad). However‚ they are human‚ so they will ultimately meet their limits and fail. This contradictive pattern illustrates
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