Homers use of similes help the reader understand how he is comparing a certain thing, like a specific character, to something else. His Homeric similes go into depth when comparing two different objects, and continues to help the reader view what is happening in the book. Homers unsuspected similes draw the readers attention in humorous, strange ways, and his similes give more understanding. In the end of Book 5, Odysseus is being compared to an ember that has not burn out yet, and is still glowing or barely burning. Another descriptive, epic simile was used when Odysseus was being compared to a mountain lion with great confidence about to kill his prey, in Book 6. "The sight of these was joy to Odysseus, and the godlike survive lay down in their midst and covered himself up. A solitary man who lives on the edge of the wilderness an has no neighbor, will hide a charred log deep in the embers and so keep alive the fire's seed and not have to rekindle it from who knows where." Odysseus has finally swam across the sea and has found a place to lay down, and Homer relates him to an ember that does not die out. Odysseus goes through many …show more content…
In the first simile he shows determination and endurance, not giving up, like the ember that doesn't go out. Odysseus' perseverance is shown through many other examples throughout the book like being captured by a Cyclops, passing a huge six headed monster and a huge whirlpool, and when he finally reaches home after a long journey, he has to kill off all the suitors that have been living in his home while he has been gone. He shows his confidence when he brags about blinding the Cyclops and lets everyone know that it was his plan, and when dealing with the sirens, telling everyone that only he could hear them without dying. His confidence makes situations much worse when gods become angry with him, but that doesn't stop him from being