In the Iliad,
Homer finds a great tool in the simile.
Just
by opening the
book in a random place the reader is undoubtedly
faced with one,
or within a few pages. Homer seems to
use
everyday
activities, at least for the audience, his fellow
Greeks, in these
similes nearly exclusively. When one is
confronted with a
situation that is familiar, one is more likely
to put aside
contemplating the topic and simply inject those
known
feelings. This would definitely be an
effective tactic
when used upon
the people of Homer's day. From the heroic efforts
in the Iliad
itself it is clear that the populace of his time
were highly
emotional creatures, and higher brain activity seems
to be in short,
and in Odysseus' case, valuable, order.
It is also wise to remember that history
is written by the
winners. In the Iliad, there seems to be relatively
little
storyline from
the Trojan's side. We are regaled with
story upon
story of the
Greeks, their heroes, and their exploits, while the
Trojan's are
conspicuously quiet, sans Hector of course. It could
almost be assumed
that throughout time most of the knowledge of
the battle from
the Trojan side had been lost.
Considering the ability to affect feelings
with similes, and
the one-sided
view of history, Homer could be using similes to
guide the reader
in the direction of his personal views, as
happens with
modern day political "spin".
These views that Homer
might be trying
to get across might be trying to favor Troy.
It
could easily be
imagined that throughout time, only great things
were heard about
the Greeks mettle in war, and that Homer is
attempting to
balance the scales a bit by romanticizing the
Trojan peoples,
especially Hector, and bringing to light the
lesser-heard
tales of Greek stupidity.
Shortly into Book Two, Agamemnon gives the
speech to his
assembly about
his plan to rally the troops with reverse
psychology. Agamemnon shall announce he is giving up on
taking
Troy, whereupon
the individual army captains will then "prevent
their doing
so." When the announcement is made,
King Agamemnon
is startled to
see the ranks, not surprisingly, take advantage of
the chance to
leave and make for the ships with vigor. Homer
describes the
scene as "bees that sally from some hollow cave and
flit in countless
throng among the spring flowers, bunched in
knots and
clusters..." This simile is tainted
with dark words
like "from a
hollow cave" and "bunched in knots", giving the
"bees"
an ominous tone. The Greek ranks are painted as a throng
of weak-kneed
wimps with their constitution sapped, obviously not
the case as they
go on to win the war, but it suffices to cast
the Lycians in a
negative light.
A short, but emotionally appealing, simile
is found after
the Greek
warriors have changed their mind about leaving and
return to the
Scamander: "They stood as thick upon the
flower-bespangled
field as leaves that bloom in summer."
This
scene assumes
quite a juxtaposition. A
flower-bespangled
battlefield? This is perhaps an attempt to show the
absurdity of
the Greek army,
changing positions from fleeing to brazenness as
flowers are to
the field of death.
Near the beginning of Book Three a group
of elders of Troy,
not fighting
material, but skilled orators, are found resting on
the tower
"like cicadas that chirrup delicately from the boughs
of some high tree
in a wood." The cicadas song and
the "tree in
a wood" cast
memories of repose and relaxation, rest and peace,
which are then
injected into the "delicate" elders.
Another
attempt of Homer
to cast the Trojans in a favorable light.
Later in the same book Ptolemaeus is
Homer's vehicle for
putting down the
Greeks again. Upon seeing shirkers of
the front
line of battle he
likens them to "frightened fawns who, when they
can no longer
scud over the plain huddle together."
Undoubtedly,
the men of
Homer's time hunted to survive, and relished the sight
of the frightened
fawns grouped together. But does not one
also
feel pity for
them? This is a wonderful simile that
brings home
the nervous
twitchiness that would denote a person scared to
death in such a
situation.
Later in Book Five there is a great dichotomy
of similes.
First, Hera comes
down "flying like turtledoves in eagerness to
help the
Argives." followed by a scene surrounding Diomedes where
his men are
"fighting like lions or wild boars."
Both of these
have their own
respective importance. There is probably
no more
revered avian for
peace and beauty than the turtledove, and
applying this to
Hera shows where her intentions lie.
While
lions and boars
are notoriously vicious creatures, sure to raise
a hackle or two
on a Greek reader, and when exercised on Diomedes
it brings their
ferocity home. The interesting thing
here is the
contrast between
the two. This is another example of how
the
Greeks are made
to look like animals.
In Book Ten Nestor comments on a set of
horses that Odysseus
is ushering, won
by Diomedes through killing some Trojans, that
they are
"like sunbeams." A very short,
and odd, description
for horses. One is reminded of Apollo and his kinship
with his
chariot, often
referred to as racing across the heavens.
The
thought of golden
horses gliding straight and true, unwavering,
is most
definitely an image depicting the eliteness of these
thoroughbreds.
Shortly after Agamemnon dons his
armor. On this armor fit
for a king were
"serpents of Cyanus" that appeared "like the
rainbows which
were set in heaven." Quite an
interesting
description of
something that is supposed to instill fear in ones
enemy. The snake, as a notoriously evil incarnation,
resembling
a rainbow seems
foreign. The secret lies in the rest of
the
armor, that it is
liberally covered in gold brings home the idea
of the splendor
and decadence of this armor, as wonderful as
might be found on
a god in heaven. The idea of a king
possessing
the gall to
flaunt this frivolous armor in a situation that calls
for something
more practical, goes to show the ineptitude of the
king of the
Acheans.
In Book Twelve we have Polypoetes and
Leonteus, defending
the gate of the
wall to the Greek ships from the invasion of the
Trojans. These
two imposing characters "stood before the gates
like two high oak
trees upon the mountains, that tower from their
wide-spreading
roots, and year after year battle with wind and
rain." This simile lends to the characters of the
two,
Polypoetes and
Leonteus, along with the resolve of the Greeks at
that time. The defenses are brought out to be as
long-standing
and strong as one
of natures most formidable creations, as any
Greek would know
from the evidence of their existence in such an
inhospitable
condition as the mountains.
Going back, Book Three starts with:
"the Trojans advanced as
a flight of wild
fowl or cranes that scream overhead when rain
and winter drive
them over the flowing waters of Ocean."
The
cranes bring to
mind large, pure, graceful characteristics,
qualities
befitting an efficient army troop. The
screaming of
the cranes would
duly apply to the army, being that a scream
would be
terrifying, dissuading the enemy. The
choice of simile
here is
important. Homer is letting the Trojan
army achieve the
appearance of
gracefulness, while the Greek army is consistently
portrayed as
predatory animals.
In Book Four Ajax duels with
Simoeisius. Ajax runs
Simoeisius
through with a spear and "he fell as a poplar
that has grown
straight and tall in a meadow by some stream and
is cut down by a
wainwright with his gleaming axe."
The image of
a well grown tree
with great nourishment from the stream and the
pastoral setting
acquainted with Simoeisius is consistent with
Homer's
beautifying the Trojan tradition. Ajax
is consistently
portrayed as a
giant, and with his great spear it is no stretch
to align him with
the strength of the lumberjack with his axe,
giving him an air
of respect and reverence to him that extends
beyond his
battlefield prowess.
Near the end of Book Five Diomedes is
greeted by a rush from
Hector's
forces. His reaction is described as
like that of "a
man crossing a
wide plain, dismayed to find himself on the brink
of some great
river rolling swiftly to the sea."
Up until this
point Diomedes
had been a potent force for the Greeks.
His
newfound humility
brought upon by the unsurpassable "river" of
Hector's
troops. It is enough to convince us that
Hector's army
is menacing in
this facet alone, but to imagine that mass of
fighting spirit
would be enough to purge its enemies like the
rapids swallows
an unexperienced kayaker is all the more
frightening.
At the end of Book Six we find Paris
catching up to Hector,
to rejoin the battle. Paris takes off "as a horse, stabled and
fed, breaks loose
and gallops gloriously over the plain to the
place where he is
wont to bathe in the fair-flowing river- he
holds his head
high, and his mane streams upon his shoulders as
he exults in his
strength and flies like the wind to the haunts
and feeding
ground of the mares- even so went forth Paris from
high Pergamus,
gleaming like sunlight in his armor, and he
laughed aloud as
he sped swiftly on his way."
Obviously Paris is
just as much a show
off as Agamemnon, and definitely more vain.
This simile is
packed with phrases that exalt strength, beauty
and gracefulness,
but little reference to battle prowess, thus
presenting Paris
as nothing more than a figure-head. The
notable
laughing at the
end is something that is singularly Trojan.
Not
once is a Greek
found laughing, more evidence that Homer has
glamorized the
Trojan lifestyle.
The method I used for examining these
examples is
exceptionally
difficult. First, I examined the way the
similes
were used and the
effect they achieved, and at the same time, and
the same space,
attempted to prove that Homer tried to bring the
Trojans a sense
of honor they didn't receive in battle.
Homer's
similes proved to
have been generally bipolar, good or bad, and
he applied them
liberally where needed. The goal of
Homer's
trade, as a poet,
was to stir people, and the easier the better.
What better way
than to appeal to ones already experienced
emotions? To make a person feel like their everyday
actions
somehow partook
in a greater story is what is accomplished by
using the similes
that Homer used. These similes brought
the
story down to
earth, and everyday life into the story.
There is evidence for Homer favoring the
Trojans, at least
literarily, in
this poem. His consistent use of beauty and grace
with the Trojans
contrasted with the viciousness portrayed in the
Greeks is
clear. Homer might have given other
Trojan warriors
besides Hector
moments of aristea also if their exploits had not
have been lost
through time. Anyone, especially a poet,
would
feel indebted to
the dead to give them some honor for their
duties, and Homer
has done just that.
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