Epic similes are long, dramatic comparisons made between two objects or circumstances using such words as like or as. These similes are used frequently throughout the beginning books of The Odyssey to relate mortal characters in times of triumph or distress, usually heroes, to certain things or events that would have been relatable to ancient Greeks. In situations of victory or glory, characters are normally related to gods or god-like objects, while characters in periods of despair or failure are related to more insignificant objects. In book nine of Homer’s The Odyssey, Homer uses epic similes to compare the Cyclops to the brute and primal forces of nature, while comparing Odysseus’s control and trickery of the monster to civilization and
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After he and his crew are caught in the Cyclops’s cave, Odysseus says, “He lunged out with his hands toward my men… he knocked them dead like pups… and ripping them limb from limb to fix his meal, he bolted them down like a mountain-lion, devoured entrails, flesh and bones” (9.324-330). In this epic simile, the crew members being eaten by the Cyclops are being compared to pups, and the Cyclops itself is being compared to the lion. This father-child comparison shows that the crew members are owned and controlled by the Cyclops and his whims and caprices, and Odysseus has not yet been able to use his cunning and skill to defeat the brutish monster. By likening the Cyclops’ behavior to that of a mountain-lion, Homer emphasizes the Cyclops’ primal instincts and its strength and physical power over such fragile humans as Homer’s shipmates. He uses graphic imagery, explaining in detail how the Cyclops determined the crewmembers’ every limb, to highlight its beastliness and danger when not contained and allowed to run wild. Such a comparison is meant to show that, at this point in their journey, the crew is still greatly subjected to the risks of the natural world, especially because they are unprotected by the gods in this …show more content…
Odysseus uses a stake carved out of an olive branch to blind the Cyclops to further his plan to escape the cave in which he and his crew are being held captive. “So we seized our stake with its fiery tip and bored it round and round in the giant’s eye… its crackling roots blazed and hissed as a blacksmith plunges a glowing ax or adze in an ice-cold bath and the metal screeches steam and its temper hardens-that’s the iron’s strength” (9.433-440). Odysseus is able to mold something completely natural, an olive branch, into a weapon, indicative of his newfound ability to manipulate nature to protect himself by using his craftiness. Odysseus also takes advantage of the elements, specifically fire, to heat the stake and fulfill his goal to blind the cyclops, another example of his ability to use his intelligence to manipulate the earth to his benefit. The imagery of fire and heat is symbolic of Odysseus’s power in this situation, as light and shininess are two indicators of power employed by Homer. By relating the way Odysseus blinds the cyclops to the way a blacksmith hardens his iron, Homer emphasizes the fact that Odysseus, a human, uses his craft and cunning that he gained from civilized living to tame and
After he and his crew are caught in the Cyclops’s cave, Odysseus says, “He lunged out with his hands toward my men… he knocked them dead like pups… and ripping them limb from limb to fix his meal, he bolted them down like a mountain-lion, devoured entrails, flesh and bones” (9.324-330). In this epic simile, the crew members being eaten by the Cyclops are being compared to pups, and the Cyclops itself is being compared to the lion. This father-child comparison shows that the crew members are owned and controlled by the Cyclops and his whims and caprices, and Odysseus has not yet been able to use his cunning and skill to defeat the brutish monster. By likening the Cyclops’ behavior to that of a mountain-lion, Homer emphasizes the Cyclops’ primal instincts and its strength and physical power over such fragile humans as Homer’s shipmates. He uses graphic imagery, explaining in detail how the Cyclops determined the crewmembers’ every limb, to highlight its beastliness and danger when not contained and allowed to run wild. Such a comparison is meant to show that, at this point in their journey, the crew is still greatly subjected to the risks of the natural world, especially because they are unprotected by the gods in this …show more content…
Odysseus uses a stake carved out of an olive branch to blind the Cyclops to further his plan to escape the cave in which he and his crew are being held captive. “So we seized our stake with its fiery tip and bored it round and round in the giant’s eye… its crackling roots blazed and hissed as a blacksmith plunges a glowing ax or adze in an ice-cold bath and the metal screeches steam and its temper hardens-that’s the iron’s strength” (9.433-440). Odysseus is able to mold something completely natural, an olive branch, into a weapon, indicative of his newfound ability to manipulate nature to protect himself by using his craftiness. Odysseus also takes advantage of the elements, specifically fire, to heat the stake and fulfill his goal to blind the cyclops, another example of his ability to use his intelligence to manipulate the earth to his benefit. The imagery of fire and heat is symbolic of Odysseus’s power in this situation, as light and shininess are two indicators of power employed by Homer. By relating the way Odysseus blinds the cyclops to the way a blacksmith hardens his iron, Homer emphasizes the fact that Odysseus, a human, uses his craft and cunning that he gained from civilized living to tame and