The Homeric Simile Review your notes to ensure we know what homeric simile is.

Homer and Greek Epic The Homeric Simile the simile is one of the hallmarks of Homer ’ s style a simile is an explicit comparison of two things, using “ like ” or “ as ” e.g. my teacher drinks like a fish. INTRODUCTION TO HOMERIC SIMILE

Homer and Greek Epic The Homeric Simile Fallen on one side, as on the stalk a poppy falls, weighed down by showering spring, beneath his helmet ’ s weight his head sank down. Iliad (the death of Gorgythion) the flower and the dying hero bend over in a like manner both have colorful tops: one has a flower and the other a crested helmet INTRODUCTION TO HOMERIC EPIC (CHAPTER 4.III)

Homer and Greek Epic The Homeric Simile Fallen on one side, as on the stalk a poppy falls, weighed down by showering spring, beneath his helmet ’ s weight his head sank down. Iliad (the death of Gorgythion) but the flower and the hero are more different than alike: man vs. plant dying in battle vs. growing in the rain noisy dirty battlefield vs. serene rainfall INTRODUCTION TO HOMERIC EPIC (CHAPTER 4.III)

Homer and Greek Epic The Homeric Simile this sort of union of opposites is called oxymoron literally in Greek, “ sharp-blunt ” e.g. a bittersweet love a deafening silence a sophomore ( “ smart fool ” ) INTRODUCTION TO HOMERIC EPIC (CHAPTER 4.III)

Homer and Greek Epic A homeric simile is an elaborate comparison, developed over several lines, between something strange or unfamiliar to the audience and something more familiar to them. Review example from literary term notes!

Practice Identifying Homeric Similes Using the chart provided, identify the two things, one familiar and one unfamiliar, that Homer compares in each extended simile.

Practice Identifying Identify the two things that Homer compares in each extended simile. “I drove my weight on it from above and bored it home like a shipwright bores his beam with a shipwright's drill that men below, whipping the strap back and forth, whirl and the drill keeps twisting, never stopping --So we seized our stake with it fiery tip and bored it round and round in the giant's eye.”

Here’s another to practice “…its crackling roots blazed and hissed - as a blacksmith plunges a glowing ax or adze in an ice-cold bath and the metal screeches steam and its temper hardens - that's the iron's strength - so the eye of Cyclops sizzled round that stake.”

Now, let’s practice writing our own! Assignment: Using the pictures on the next slide, create 3 off your own Homeric similes. For each one, choose one familiar object/person and one unfamiliar object/person to compare it to. Remember to make your comparison long and detailed! Here’s a helpful formula: 1. Start with “As” or “Like” 2. Describe the way the object or animal would look/act, set off with commas 3. Say “so too,” then describe the way the person would look/act in a similar way Examples: As a flag flaps in the breeze, clumsily twisting and flopping without rhyme or reason, so too Ms. Weycker attempted to dougie, making a total idiot of herself. Like a bunch of dirty pigeons, scratching mindlessly in the dirt for anything they can find, my English teachers try to peck out the insides of my soul with their talk of symbolism, butcher paper, and “creative projects.”