Simile

Definition: a comparison of two things indicated by the words like, as, than, or even a verb such as
resembles. A simile expresses a similarity. For a simile to exist, the things being compared have to
be dissimilar. It isn’t a simile to say “your fingers are like mine” because that is a literal
observation. It is true. But to say “your fingers are like sausages” is to use a simile.

Example:
Life, like a dome of many-colored glass
Stains the white radiance of Eternity.
- from Shelley’s Adonais –


Explanation: These lines are a simile
because:
o Compares two things (life and a
dome of many-colored glass)
o Uses “like”
Practice:
1. Identifying Homeric Similes (Using the chart below, identify the two things, one familiar and
one unfamiliar, that Homer compares in each extended simile.)
Homeric Simile
In a smithy
One sees a white-hot axhead or an adze
Plunged and wrung in a cold tub, screeching steam –
the way they make soft iron hale and hard –
just so that eyeball hissed around the spike.
(lines 385-389)
None would attach – oh, it was strange, I tell you –
but switching their long tails they faced our men
like hounds, who look up when their master comes
with tidbits for them – as he will- from table.
Humbly those wolves and lions with mighty paws
fawned on our men…
(lines 543-547)
…on our starboard beam Charybdis, dire
gore of the salt sea tide. By heavens! When she
vomited, all the sea was like a cauldron
seething over intense fire, when the mixture
suddenly heaves and rises.
(lines 804-808)
Comparison
Unfamiliar:
Familiar:
Unfamiliar:
Familiar:
Unfamiliar:
Familiar:
2. Your Turn: Write three (3) Homeric similes of your own in which you compare something
unfamiliar to something more familiar. Extend each comparison over three or more lines.
Metaphor

Definition: a statement that one thing is something else, which, in a literal sense, it is not. It is a
direct comparison without like, as, or than. It will often use some form of the verb to be.

Example:

My love is a red, red rose.

Explanation: This statement is a metaphor
because:
o Is my love literally a rose? No.
But…
o It is comparing “my love” to a “red,
red rose”
Practice:
1. Identifying Metaphors in The Odyssey (Using the chart below, identify the two things that
Homer compares in each metaphor.)
Metaphor
Comparison
1
But he seemed rather a shaggy mountain
2
1
That made the rage of the monster boil
over
2
1
His mind churning with thoughts of
bloody work
2
2. Your Turn: Write and illustrate your own metaphor. (Be careful it doesn’t turn into a simile!)
Imagery

Definition: using the sensory perceptions to help a reader experience the passage of literature.
Included are: visual imagery, auditory (sound) imagery, tactile (touch) imagery, thermal (hot and
cold) imagery, olfactory (smell) imagery, gustatory (taste) imagery, and kinesthetic (movement)
imagery.

Example:

The warm, crimson blood flowed slowly
down his charred face. The metallic scent
of blood reached across the room to where
she was crying softly..

Explanation: This example uses many
types of imagery:
o “warm…blood” = thermal
o “crimson” and “charred” = visual
o “crying softly” = auditory
o “metallic scent of blood” = olfactory
o “flowed slowly” = kinesthetic
Practice:
1. Identifying Imagery in The Odyssey (Break down the following quote into as many types of
imagery as possible. Record it in the following chart.)
“blood ran out around the red-hot bar. Eyelid and lash were seared; the pierced ball
hissed broiling, and the roots popped.” (line 338)
Type of Imagery
Example
Visual
Auditory
Tactile
Thermal
Olfactory
Gustatory
Kinesthetic
2. Your Turn: Write a paragraph (3-5 sentences) using as many types of imagery as possible.
Make sure that your paragraph is cohesive and makes sense!
Allusion

Definition: a reference in a literary work to a person, place, or thing in history or in another work
of literature. Allusion are often indirect or brief references to well-known characters or events.

Example:
My mother always warned me, “Never trust
a Greek bearing gifts.”


Explanation: This statement is an allusion
because:
o It is referencing the story in the Iliad
where the Trojans are tricked into
accepting the “Trojan Horse” from
the Greeks.
o This was not actually a gift, but a
treacherous way for the Greeks to
enter Troy.
Practice:
1. Identifying Allusions (Can you identify the classical story/myth each of these rap lyrics is
alluding to?)
Rap Lyrics
I’m full strength like a Cyclops‘s eye drops,
I got support like high-tops.
- Ugly Duckling, Left Behind.
“The side lines is lined with casualties
Who sip the life casually, then gradually become worse
Don’t bite the apple, Eve” -Jay-Z
“My rep grows like the nose of Pinocchio,
Just because I’ve mastered the art of braggadocio.”
-Akrobatik
“Tonedeff’s slays giants,
as if my legal name’s David.” -Tonedeff
Allusion
2. Your Turn: Write or draw your own statement alluding to one of the Greek Gods you learned
about in your webquest. (Ex. “I’m throwing down lightning, just call me King of Olympus” =
Zeus)
Epithet

Definition: a term or phrase used to describe a character, object, or event in a way that emphasizes
its typical characteristic. Generally, an epithet provides us information abou the person or thing to
which it is attached. . An epithet that has become cliché because of its excessive use in The
Odyssey is “rosy-fingered Dawn.”

Example:

Explanation: This epithet reveals:
o Achilles is known for being fast.
Swift-footed Achilles

Practice:
1. Breaking down Epithets in The Odyssey (Record what each epithet reveals about the person,
object, or event it is attached to.)
Epithet
Rosy-fingered Dawn
Reveals
The clear-eyed goddess (Athena)
Circe, the nymph with lovely braids
Son of Laertes (Odysseus)
Who marshals the thunderheads (Zeus)
2. Your Turn: Compose three different epithets for yourself that reveal something about your
nature, talents, relationships, etc. Be creative but accurate!
Personification

Definition: when we give a thing, animal, or abstract idea (ex. truth) human characteristics.

Example:
Death be not proud, though some have
called thee mighty and dreadful.


Explanation: This is personification
because:
o Can death really be proud?
Practice:
1. Interpreting personification in The Odyssey (For each example of personification,
hypothesize why Homer might have chosen to describe the thing/animal/idea in that manner.)
Example of Personification
When Dawn spread out her fingertips of rose
Hypothesis
Sleep looses Odysseus’ limbs, slipping the
toils and anguish from his mind.
East and South Winds clashed, and the raging
West and North sprung from the heavens.
Death sat there huge
2. Your Turn: Describe at least five (5) objects in this classroom using personification.