First, let us define a simile. A simile is a comparison using the words like or as. There are three noteworthy similes in Chapter 20 of The Odyssey by Homer.
The first simile we can look at compares Odysseus looking at what the suitors had done to his home upon his return to a female dog guarding her pups. Odysseus is compared to the mother dog and the people he cares about-his wife and son-are like the pups that the mother dog cares about.
Simile 1:
"Just as a bitch stands snarling
above her tender pups when she sees anyone
she does not recognize and is prepared to fight,
that how in his anger the heart within him growled
at their disgraceful acts."
In the second simile, Homer compares Odysseus and his tossing and turning as he tries to sleep to meat roasting on a spit over a fire that must be turned constantly so that it cooks evenly.
Simile 2:
"Just as a man
turns quickly to and fro on a blazing fire a stomach
stuffed with fat and blood when he’s keen to roast it fast,
that how Odysseus tossed around, wondering how he might get the shameless suitors in his grip,
one man against so many."
The first two similes use the word as to compare. In the third simile, Homer uses like to make the comparison. Homer compares Odysseus to a poor man unaccustomed to having comforts, when Odysseus refuses to lie down on the bed but rather chooses to sleep on a portico.
Simile 3:
"When he thought of going to bed to get some sleep, she told the women slaves to spread out bedding, but like a wretched man familiar with hard times, he had no wish to lie down under blankets on a bed."
Homer is a master at creating inventive and descriptive similes. These are three epic similes that can be found in Chapter 20 of The Odyssey.
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