Similes of all kinds may be used in Homer to embellish the narrative and lend weight to the characters, to emphasize a particular stage in the action or a key theme, and to introduce an element of comment and interpretation which permits events and characters to be viewed from a different angle. The fact that the dominant part of complex similes, that which contains the actual comparison (the comparatio), is usually expressed verbally by the timeless present or aorist, in contrast to the subject of the comparison, i.e. that to which the comparison is applied (the comparandum), which as part of the narrative is associated with the historic past, lends a generalizing and universal perspective to the work. There is a considerable difference between the Iliad and the Odyssey, both in the incidence of similes in general, and also in the nature and structure of exemplary comparisons in particular, which is in part explained by the different subject-matter of the two works.

The Iliad

Similes are one of the great glories of the Iliad. They are very numerous, frequently extended, and at high points in the actionmay appear in contiguous clusters. They are varied alike in content and linguistic expression, drawing on a wide range of elemental and natural phenomena and of human activities and experience. They frequently contain dramatic images of the sea, storm, and fire, or of predators attacking their prey. They are dynamic, rather than merely descriptive, conveying visual and acoustic phenomena, and actions and processes.