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Homeric simile, also called an epic simile or extended simile, is a detailed comparison in the form of a simile that is many lines in length. The word "Homeric" is based on the Greek author, Homer, who composed the two famous Greek epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey. Being characteristic of epic poetry, the Homeric simile is employed by later writers of epic poetry such as Vergil and John Milton.

The typical Homeric simile makes a comparison to some kind of event, in the form "like a ____ when it ______." The object of the comparison is usually something strange or unfamiliar to something ordinary and familiar. The Iliad, for instance, contains many such similes comparing fighting warriors to lions attacking wild boars or other prey. These similes serve to take the reader away from the battlefield for a brief while, into the world of pre-war peace and plenty. Often, they occur at a moment of high action or emotion, especially during a battle. In the words of Peter Jones, Homeric similes "are miraculous, redirecting the reader's attention in the most unexpected ways and suffusing the poem with vividness, pathos and humor". They are also important, as it is through these similes that the narrator directly talks to the audience.

Homer

Some, such as professor G.P. Shipp, have argued that Homer’s similes appear to be irregular in relation to the text, as if they were added later. On the other hand, William Clyde Scott, in his book The Oral Nature of the Homeric Simile, suggests that Homer’s similes are original based on the similarities of the similes and their surrounding narrative text. Scott argues that Homer primarily uses similes to introduce his characters, “sometimes to glorify them and sometimes merely to call attention to them.” He uses Agamemnon as an example, noting that each time he reenters the battle he is described with a simile.^A

Shipp also suggests that Homer’s similes serve as a poetic device in order to foreshadow and keep the reader interested. C.A. Martindale offers a contrasting view that while Homer's similes provide relief, they also serve a thematic function. He offers as example Apollo's destruction of the Achaean's wall, which is likened to a child destroying sand castles he has himself built. Martindale suggests that this simile highlights a characteristic of Homeric gods: their power is unassailable they are "irresponsible" but somehow not at fault for that.

In her article On Homer’s Similes, Eleanor Rambo agrees with Scott that the similes are intentional, also noting that Homer’s use of similes deepen the reader’s understanding of the individual or action taking place through a word-picture association that the reader is able to relate to. She states that “the point of the simile is the verb which makes the common ground for the nouns involved.” According to Rambo, Homer uses similes in two different ways: those that stress physical motion^B and those that stress emotional disturbance.^C

A point of scholarly tension is the extent of homologation in his similes; that is, whether the similes are based on, in the words of West, "one point of comparison ... and a large ornamental development." Martindale cites evidence of the UNIBIQUITY of West's position, but himself disputes West's characterization of Homer's similes as à queue longue. arguing that Homer's similes are relevant in toto to the narrative and contain multiple points of comparison.^E

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Vergil

Critics are divided on the success of Vergil's similes in his Aeneid, which was a conscious emulation of Homer's epics. West argues that Vergil's similes are not à queue longue like Homer's. He submits that most of Vergil's similes have multiple points of comparison, and only venture into à queue longue territory when, like Homer, he includes geographical details without clear relation to the narrative. He concludes that Vergil's similes indicate that Vergil "took pains to develop correspondences verbal and substantive between his narrative and his similes."

However he also concludes that Vergil's similes mark his as a "miniaturist, [who] worked with words singly, polishing them for their immediate settings." Martindale responds that labeling an author of epic a "miniaturist" is a paradox. He adds that where Homer maintained narrative momentum in his similes, Vergil's similes are burdened by "overcareful art."

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100 vergil source of later poets

Steele notes the dissimilarity between the similes of the first and last six books of the Aeneid. Scholars generally agree that the first half of the Aeneid corresponds to the Odyssey while the Iliad is the thematic source for the second six books. Steele argues that "bees, birds and unwarlike persons form the bases for the similes" in the peaceful first six books while "animals noted for their courage and the destructive elements in nature" characterize the war-heavy second half.

John Milton

John Milton's seventeenth-century epic Paradise Lost, in turn an emulation of both Vergil and Homer, also contains Homeric simile. Martindale argues that Milton's similes align more closely with those of Homer, particularly in the Iliad, than of Vergil. He says the similes in the Iliad and Milton exemplify an essential element of simile that those in the Odyssey and Aeneid lack; namely that they make the action of the epics relatable to their contemporary readers in a way that those in the other epics don't, or don't need to. He argues that the stories of war in the Iliad and the Fall of Man in Paradise Lost are more REMOTE than the action in the Odyssey and Aeneid. Thus the simile, whose purpose is the make the unfamiliar familiar, is stronger—and more frequent—in the Iliad and Paradise Lost.

Conversely, Whaler submits that Milton and Homer's complex similes differ substantially because homologation in Milton's that is lacking in Homer's. Martindale concedes this point, but concludes that their similarities outweigh the differences. Whaler extends this analysis, concluding that while Vergil's similes come closer to Milton's with respect to homologation, Vergil's desire to not "depart from Homeric technique" stops them from being substantially the same.

Martindale agrees with Whaler that Milton's similes never exist solely to draw a "diverting picture."

Whaler's diagrammatic analysis of Milton's similes sees substantial thought and care in Milton's similes. He particularly shows the extent of prolepsis present in Milton's similes. He suggests that the few examples of prolepsis in Vergil and Homer are "random examples" whereas the extent and detail of prolepsis in Paradise Lost can only indicate that Milton designed it.

Whaler observes that animal similes are much less frequent in Milton than in Homer or Vergil, as well as rarer than in other epics generally. He suggests two causes: first, that Milton believed animal similes had "had their day" in epic poetry. Second, he argues that, in line with this general consensus that Milton's similes are more homologous than Homer's, Milton only employed animal similes when he could craft a more perfect one than was found in classic epics.

Whaler particularly highlights Milton's bee simile,NOTE BOOK 1 761 775, a simile employed by virtually every epic poet.^D He argues that Milton's surpasses

Dryden

Dryden's Mac Flecknoe mocks the epic simile by using a parody of epic poetry to attack a rival author.

Longfellow

Evangeline

Notes

^ A. Iliad, XI:292, 295 and XV:263
^ B. Iliad, I:47 "Apollo came like the night"
^ C. Odyssey, X:14 "as a bitch paces round her tender whelps…so growled his heart"
^ D. Whaler lists the following examples of bee simile in major epic, noting Luís de Camões as the only major epic poet without one.

Iliad, II: 87–90
Apollonius of Rhodes, Argonautica, I: 879–882
Ibid, II: 103–134
Aeneid, I: 430–436
Ibid, VI: 707–709
Ibid, XII: 587–592
Lucan, Pharsalia, IX: 284–292
Statius, Thebaid, X: 574–579
Statius, Achilleid, I: 555–557
Silius Italicus, Punic Wars, II: 217–222

Quintus Smyrnaeus, Posthomerica, I: 440–443
Claudian, In Rufinum, II: 460–465
Claudian, Panegyricus de Quarto Consulatu Honorii Augusti, 380–383
Dante, Paradiso, XXXI: 1–24
Vida, Christiad, I: 229–231
Ibid, II: 17–21
Ibid, VI: 418–424
Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, XX, lxxxii: 7–8
Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queen, II ix: 51

^ E. Martindale offers as evidence the similes at Iliad, III:149-153, VIII:306ff, XI: 555–564, XII:146ff and XIII:136ff.

Further reading

• "Milton's Grand Style," Christopher Ricks. Oxford University Press, Nov. 23, 1978. Oxford Scholarship Online.

Category:Literary techniques
Category:Homeric style
Category:Epic poetry