The Homeric Simile

Review your notes/and or flashcards to ensure we know what homeric

simile is.

Homer and Greek Epic

The Homeric Simile• the simile is one of the hallmarks

of Homer’s style• a simile is an explicit comparison

of two things, using “like” or “as”• e.g. my teacher drinks like a

fish.

INTRODUCTION TO HOMERIC SIMILE

Homer and Greek Epic

The Homeric SimileFallen on one side, as on the stalk a poppy falls, weighed down by

showering spring,beneath his helmet’s weight his head

sank down. Iliad 8.306-8 (the death of Gorgythion)

• the flower and the dying hero bend over in a like manner

• both have colorful tops: one has a flower and the other a crested helmet

INTRODUCTION TO HOMERIC EPIC (CHAPTER 4.III)

Homer and Greek Epic

The Homeric SimileFallen on one side, as on the stalk a poppy falls, weighed down by

showering spring,beneath his helmet’s weight his head

sank down. Iliad 8.306-8 (the death of Gorgythion)

• but the flower and the hero are more different than alike:

• man vs. plant• dying in battle vs. growing in the

rain• noisy dirty battlefield vs. serene

rainfall

INTRODUCTION TO HOMERIC EPIC (CHAPTER 4.III)

Homer and Greek Epic

The Homeric Simile• this sort of union of opposites is

called oxymoron• literally in Greek, “sharp-blunt”• e.g. a bittersweet love

a deafening silencea sophomore (“smart

fool”)

INTRODUCTION TO HOMERIC EPIC (CHAPTER 4.III)

Homer and Greek Epic

A homeric simile is an elaborate comparison, developed over several lines, between something strange or unfamiliar to the audience and something more familiar to them.

Review example from literary term notes!

Practice Identifying Homeric Similes

Using the chart provided, identify the two things, one familiar and one unfamiliar, that Home compares in each extended simile.

Now, let’s practice writing our own!Assignment: Using the pictures on the next slide, create 3 off your own Homeric similes. For each one, choose one familiar object/person and one unfamiliar object/person to compare it to. Remember to make your comparison long and detailed!

Here’s a helpful formula:1. Start with “As” or “Like”2. Describe the way the object or animal would look/act, set off with commas3. Say “so too,” then describe the way the person would look/act in a similar way

Examples:

As a flag flaps in the breeze, clumsily twisting and flopping without rhyme or reason, so too Ms. Weycker attempted to dougie, making a total idiot of herself.

Like a bunch of dirty pigeons, scratching mindlessly in the dirt for anything they can find, my English teachers try to peck out the insides of my soul with their talk of symbolism, butcher paper, and “creative projects.”