Tuesday 4th August 2018
Figurative Speeches in “The Odyssey”
Quote
“Once in the town, those who had fled like
deer wiped off their sweat and drank their
thirst away, leaning against the cool stone
of the ramparts.”
“Iron in your breast your heart is.”
“Conspicuous as the evening star that
comes, amid the first in heaven, at fall of
night, and stands most lovely in the west, so
shone in sunlight the fine-pointed spear
Achilles poised in his right hand, with deadly
aim at Hector, at the skin where most it lay
exposed.”
Analysis
In this verse, Homer uses simile to add
colour, interest and imagination for the
readers. Since this quote is located at the
start of the poem, it helps to awaken the
imagination and attract the reader into
continue reading.
The use of enjambment here helps the
readers to highlight the extreme hardness
and the lack of humanity and sympathy in
Achilles.
Conspicuous is foregrounded at the
beginning to introduce the simile with the
spear likened to the evening star. The dark
of night contrasts with the bright sunlight
thus the spear’s importance as a weapon is
emphasized.