The Odyssey Analysis
In the epic, The Odyssey (XXII 418.330-55), Homer uses linguistic and epic devices to stress Odysseus’ willingness to destroy in order to cleanse. In the beginning of the passage, the advent of Athena’s shield, the aegis, over Odysseus’ hall acted as an ominous sign of impending doom. At the sight of it, the suitors went “mad with fear.” Homer proceeds to describe the chaos that followed with the use of imagery in the form of figurative language. The epic simile comparing the suitors to “stung cattle (418.330-36)” and the aegis to the “dread shimmering gadfly (418.330-36)” emphasizes the terror and panic they felt under Athena’s branding mark. Although numerous and large in size, the cattle is impotent under the assault
In the epic, The Odyssey (XXII 418.330-55), Homer uses linguistic and epic devices to stress Odysseus’ willingness to destroy in order to cleanse. In the beginning of the passage, the advent of Athena’s shield, the aegis, over Odysseus’ hall acted as an ominous sign of impending doom. At the sight of it, the suitors went “mad with fear.” Homer proceeds to describe the chaos that followed with the use of imagery in the form of figurative language. The epic simile comparing the suitors to “stung cattle (418.330-36)” and the aegis to the “dread shimmering gadfly (418.330-36)” emphasizes the terror and panic they felt under Athena’s branding mark. Although numerous and large in size, the cattle is impotent under the assault