Similes In The Odyssey

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In The Odyssey, imagery is used to make the story more interesting by adding more detail to an object so we get a better picture in our heads. In Book I, after Minerva is done talking to her father, Jove (Jupiter), she comes down from Mount Olympus to tell Telemachus to seek information about his father, Ulysses. The author, Homer, says, “So saying she bound on her glittering, gold sandals, imperishable, with which she can fly like the wind over land or sea; she grasped the redoubtable bronze-shod spear, so stout and sturdy and strong, wherewith she quells the ranks of heroes who have displeased her.” Homer describes Minerva’s sandals as “glittering and gold”, which gives us a picture of sandals the color of the sun and shimmers like a glass ocean. Homer also describes Minerva’s spear as being “stout, sturdy, and strong”, which I piece together a picture of a spear of tall stature and a leather …show more content…
For example, in Book IX, Homer says, “He gobbled them up like a lion in the wilderness, flesh, bones, marrow, and entrails, without leaving anything uneaten.” Homer compares Polyphemus gorging on human flesh to a lion, leaving nothing uneaten. This gives us a picture of Polyphemus eating and stuffing his face and stomach with human flesh, while Ulysses and his men stand, watching in terror as Polyphemus devours two of their friends. Another example can be found in Book I, where Minerva flies down from Mount Olympus to Telemachus. Homer states that Minerva can “Fly like the wind over the land and sea”, which implies that she can fly over any distance, short or long, over land or sea. Later, after Minerva, disguised as Mentes, finishes persuading Telemachus to seek information about his father, Homer says, “With these words she flew away like a bird into the air.” This means that she flew smoothly like a bird from land into the air, bringing her meeting with Telemachus to an

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