The artistry of the Homeric simile

Abstract

Similes as markers in shifting scenes Chapter 5 (books 13, 17, and 16):Problematic booksIn addition, I have ordered each chapter to show the clearest examples of the various functions of the simile within the narrative.Thus books 2, 12, and 13 provide the clearest models of similes used to support narrative strategies.In books 3, 4, and 15 the similes do occur in traditional places but do not seem to accompany the development of major themes.An example would be the series of similes in Agamemnon's review of the Greek troops in book 4. It is common for a character to be given a simile when he is introduced into the narrative.24In his march through the troops Agamemnon comes upon some Greeks who are not arming (fawns, 243), Idomeneus (boar, 253), and the Ajaxes and their soldiers (goatherd seeing a coming whirlwind, 275).These similes are placed where the tradition suggests the simile as one among many options and their subjects seem appropriate for the men described.However, they do not relate meaningfully with the earlier similes of the star (Athena, 75), the mother brushing away the fly (Athena, 130), or the woman staining ivory (Menelaus, 141).Because they lack compelling organization I have chosen to omit these books from major discussion because I cannot find narrative strategies that are equally compelling as those in the other simile-rich books.At this point it is necessary to raise a problem.This study of eleven chosen books depends on demonstrating how closely the design of the similes follows broader thematic developments in each narrative section.For such a discussion it is necessary to identify the major structural units in the Iliad and Odyssey.Book 2 is designed differently than book 1: the locale changes, the entrance of Agamemnon's dream starts off a new series of actions, the focus shifts from individuals to larger groups, and the number of similes increases markedly.Although such contrasts make it easy to assume that most books contain a separately designed unit, it is impossible simply to accept the current book divisions as precise designators of Homer's narrative plan.Often the divisions do not seem reliable: some seem arbitrary, yet others clearly represent authentic breaks in the story that the poet has marked as his own.25The division between Iliad 1 and 2 seems to me unquestionably authentic,

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