Homer's Comparison Of The Sea To A Boiling Cauldron

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In the homeric simile above, Homer compares the sea monster Charybdis’ vomiting of water and how that affects the state of the ocean to the bubbling, boiling contents of a cauldron. A boiling substance bubbles and “seethes,” meaning that the sea is similar-looking because of Charybdis’ water-vomit being so violent that it causes the ocean to seem like it’s boiling. Homer tried to embody the wild state of the sea, which bubbled and erupted like a boiling cauldron. No one has ever seen the ocean do anything like that, but most everyone has seen water or another substance boil in a pot, which is similar to what the sea was like. The comparison of the sea to a boiling cauldron helped the reader understand the power of Charybdis’ spewing of water,