Figurative Language In Homer's The Odyssey

Homer’s poem The Odyssey is about a warrior who has not been home from the Trojan War in twenty years. He is held from home by Poseidon by several monsters and other challenges. When he returns home, he finds that his house has been overtaken by suitors trying to marry his wife. The Odyssey has many examples of figurative language in the text. Figurative language is using words or phrases differently than the literal definition and is used in literature to provide more drama to the story or to just make the text more interesting. Homer uses many types of figurative language in the text; including similes, metaphors, epithets, personifications, alliterations, and epic similes. In Homer’s poem The Odyssey, figurative language is used to intensify

After Odysseus lies to the Cyclops about the origins of the crew and himself, the story states, “But in one stride he clutched at my companions and caught two in his hands like squirming puppies...Then he dismembered them and made his meal, gaping and crunching like a mountain lion.” (p.820 189-190, 192-193) This is an epic simile that describes the way the Cyclops ate the men and how the men behaved when being picked up and comparing them to animals. The men being eaten were compared to puppies, an animal people generally consider weak, and the Cyclops to a mountain lion, an animal traditionally considered strong. This makes an interesting image in the minds of readers that will create a detailed description of the scene. Soon after this occurred, the Cyclops goes to sleep. The Odyssey says, “But Cyclops went on filling up his great belly… then lay down like a mast among his sheep.” (p.820 197, 199) This is a simile that compares the way the Cyclops lies down to go to sleep to a ship. This simile increases the way the Cyclops is seen as powerful figure. The example of figurative language here makes the audience imagine the scene in their minds therefore enriching the description of the scene. These descriptions help the text as a whole feel more immediate to the reader. This has enabled The Odyssey to transcend the test of

The Odyssey would be less memorable without Homer’s masterful use of figurative language. This poem can only stand the test of time when the figurative language is used to help readers relate to the text no matter what time period they come from. Figurative language in the text has made the story as a whole more interesting and has made countless readers engaged by this tale of, in Homer’s own words, “that man skilled in all ways of contending.” (p. 813,