the previous chapter detected competitive dynamics in similes that do not interact with the simile(s) of another speaker. Such dynamics are also evident in the Iliad poet's sequences of similes. In the first place, the poet makes similes contribute to his depiction of a world filled with verbal competitors by having his heroes contest not just through but also over simile with other characters and with the narrator. Chapter 4 explores the use of similes in exchanges between characters. Chapter 5 looks at scenes in which the poet makes a character respond with a simile to the preceding simile(s) of the narrator. Second, the poet can provide a competitive orientation to the sequences of similes that he uses to describe battles in the narrator-text, and Chapter 6 begins by considering two such passages.

The two sections of this chapter lay the ground for these investigations. In the first section, I trace how various strands of previous scholarship help us study the poet's introduction of competitive dynamics into sequences of similes. I explore three points, the first of which requires the most exposition. First, previous scholarship encourages the investigation of pairs and series of similes regardless of whether or not the similes have the same vehicle. To be sure, a particular brand of the paradigmatic approach to similes remains popular and necessary. To analyze a given simile, critics will compile all the similes about that same vehicle (e.g., lions or rivers).