Iliad Similes the Iliad's Monotony

Iliad Similes The Iliad's Monotony and the Use of Similes Because the Iliad was meant to be recited orally, it had to be relatively easy for Greek bards, the rhapsodes, to remember. Out of necessity, the rhapsodes who composed the Iliad used a number of pneumonic aids, such as eponyms and stock descriptions. Furthermore, the numerous battle-scenes are built on repetitive, formulaic phrasing that rely on common rhythms and narrative structures. Considering the use of repetitive phrasing relative to its length, the Iliad could have been flat, perhaps even boring.

However, Homer and the rhapsodes preceding him added color and variety to an otherwise repetitive description of battles through the use of similes.

Some of these similes were quite elaborate: "They, as when the big waves on the sea wide-wandering wash across the walls of a ship underneath the leaning force of the wind, which particularly piles up the big waves, so the Trojans with huge clamour went over the rampart and drove their horses to fight alongside the grounded vessels, with leaf-headed spears, some at close quarters, others from their horses." Homer's similes, in fact, were so effective that they are now known as Homeric similes.

Whereas the monotony of the set-piece battles in the first chunk of the story required these similes, the thrilling chase and duel in the book's climax requires no such aids. It is odd then, to find even more similes in Book 22 than most of the previous Books. The difference between the similes in Book 22 and the similes in preceding chapters is that the audience already knows how the story will end by Book 22. This knowledge opens up a new role for the Homeric simile: to convey irony.

Precisely because they are put into play by the word "like," similes prove particularly useful for calling attention to things that are "unlike." The Role of Book 22 in the Iliad Before one can understand the use of similes in Book 22, it is useful to place Book 22 in its context. Book 22 differs from the preceding chapters of the Iliad because it revolves around a duel instead of a battle, with a highly intense chase scene beforehand.

In the confrontation between the two heroes, it isolates for the audience the naked cruelty and savagery of war which had hitherto been concealed within the violence and confusion of battle. Just as there was nothing to obscure the terror of Achilles' wrath for Hector, there was nothing here to distract the audience from the horror of war which had proved so compelling and entertaining just a few chapters previous.

What the audience encounters within the climax of book 22 is a letdown, a sobering letdown from the busy bloodlust and bravado pervading the massive battles before it. Instead, the mood is dominated by more mundane emotions, with the heroes expressing both anger and despair, defiance and grace, haughtiness and shame. In this way, the audience is forced to confront the fragility and humanity of the two godlike warriors.

Irony through Contrast Homer sought to highlight the savagery of war in a battle so close to the city of Troy contrasting images of warfare with images of quaint domestic life.

Homer is particularly fond of the pastoral pastime of stargazing, contrasting it with Achilles' warpath: "…as he swept across the flat land in full shining, like that star which comes on in the autumn and whose conspicuous brightness far outshines the stars that are numbered in the night's darkening." He also contrasts the image of the brightest star with the image of Achilles' spear: "And as a star moves among stars in the night's darkening, Hesper, who is the fairest star who stands in the sky, such was the shining from the pointed spear Achilleus was shaking…" With this contrast, Homer conveys a sense of dramatic irony in the final battle between the two heroes.

Irony through Allusion to Past Events The similes which in Book 22 convey irony by placing Hector in the role as the hunted, in contrast to his role as the dominant warrior throughout most of the story.

Such is the case when Achilles is "…chasing him, as a dog in the mountains who has flushed from his covert a deer's fawn follows him through the folding ways and the valleys, and though the fawn crouched down under a bush and be hidden…" These similes contain no irony within themselves, but are very ironic within the context of the larger story.

Hitherto, Hector is referred to as the hunter, the premier warrior on the battlefield, with Homer portraying him "…as a flashing eagle makes his plunge upon other flying birds as these feed in a swarm by a river, whether these be geese or cranes or swans long-throated, so Hektor steered the course of his outrush straight for a vessel." The irony is accomplished by drawing on the audience's own knowledge of Hector's own exploits in the preceding chapters. Irony through Foreshadowing Similar to the irony accomplished by drawing on past.