Epithets and Similes in Homer's "The Iliad"

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the effects of epithets and similes in Homer's "The Iliad." It describes and discusses how the similes and epithets help to achieve an enrichment of "The Iliad" for readers and listeners. It describes the vividness and description that become evident through their use and also shows how they help to progress the narrative forward with the impending ideas of fate.

From the Paper:

"Epithets and similes appear through the Homeric epic poem The Iliad. Both of these literary devices add to the epic poem and it's effect. Epithets add to a reader/listeners experience of the poem by adding a musical quality to the work, a sense of continuity and vividness. Epithets also advance the narrative by identifying gods and heroes and adding formula to the writing. Similes also add a great deal to the epic poem by enriching the experience of the reader through added realness and reminders of the natural world. Similes also advance the narrative through connecting fate to nature and foreshadowing the fall of heroes. It is because of these factors that The Iliad has grown to become such an impact work on western culture."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Epic Poetry." LitWiki. 2005. 28 Feb. 2006 <http://litmuse.maconstate.edu/litwiki/index.php/Epic_Poetry>
• Homer. The Iliad. Trans. Robert Fitzgerald. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004.
• Pafford, Isabelle. "Winged Words, Swift Ships and a Wine Dark Sea," "Battle in all its Gory Detail, (and other lectures)." SFSU, San Francisco. Feb.-March 2006.
• Stanley, Phillip and Johnston, Patricia. Ancient Myth in Art and Literature. Kendall/Hunt, 2004.

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