1. AKA Homeric Similes (You know Homer.. He wrote The Odyssey!)
EPIC SIMILES
AKA Homeric Similes
(You know Homer.. He wrote The Odyssey!)

2. What is a simile? So then what is an EPIC simile?
Duh.. Comparison using LIKE or AS
So then what is an EPIC simile?
Epic similes, or Homeric similes, are a more involved version of a regular simile. Epic similes contain words such as like, as, so, or just and may extend for a number of lines.
*More importantly, WHY would Homer (or really any author) use similes? What’s the POINT?

3. Got that? Then let’s look at an example from the text:
“So they mocked, but Odysseus, mastermind in action, once he’d handled the great bow and scanned every inch, then, like an expert singer skilled at lyre and song- who strains a string to a new peg with ease, making the pliant sheep-gut fast at either end- so with his virtuoso ease Odysseus strung his mighty bow.” What is being compared? Why is this an EPIC simile and not just a normal simile?

4. Another example just to make sure we get it:
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. Again, what is being compared?

5. One more
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.

6. Your task Think of one of your favorite possessions.
Come up with 6 ways to describe that (think of the five senses)
Example: My favorite possession is my grandmother’s ring, and it is round. It is also cold when I haven’t worn it in a while. (That would be two)
Think of 6 things that remind you of this favorite possession
Example: This ring reminds me of a lifesaver because both are circular, and my grandma was a lifesaver to me!

7. Using those notes Create a poem about your favorite possession.
You must include an epic simile in your poem.
You must also include an evoke to a muse. (Look at the beginning of The Odyssey to get an idea of this if you don’t remember)

8. Example My grandmother’s ring brings me happiness like a summer’s day.
Just a normal simile. Don’t do this!!
My grandmother’s ring brings me happiness like summer days – with dew on the grass, birds chirping loudly, and days with endless sunlight— bring a child happiness.
Epic simile because it makes a connection and paints a picture.