Compare And Contrast Similes In The Iliad

While two epic similes referencing the battle in book sixteen of The Iliad translated by Richmond Lattimore present very different ideas of battle, they work together to create a more complex and nuanced picture of the war between the Achaians and the Trojans. The first simile from lines 765-776 talks about the battle as “east wind and south wind [fighting] it out with each other” (16.765; 372). The second simile, which follows shortly after on lines 823-829, refers to Hektor “as a lion [that] overpowers a weariless boar in combat” when he takes the life of Patroklos (16.823; 373). Homer uses these two similes so close to each other to allow us to peer into the different levels at which the war is being fought. The wind simile is a commentary …show more content…
Homer includes the reference to the oak tree to convey that the conflict among the humans is the cause of the tensions in Olympus. The second tree, the ash, has been used throughout the Iliad to describe “ash spears” used for fighting and dying soldiers, in lines such as “he dropped like an ash tree” (13.715;311 & 13.178;296). So, it connects the simile to the individual human fighters who suffer in the war. Finally, the women and elderly who are not fit to fight are embodied in the “cornel with delicate bark” (16.767; 372). The word delicate in this context does not only signify a group that is too weak and delicate to fight. Rather it also suggests that these trees are most susceptible to being affected and damaged by strong winds. This parallels well the ways in which the women and elderly in the book are generally unable to play a role in the war and also have no honor or riches to win from it. They are the most negatively affected by the fighting of the Trojans and the Achaians the same way a tree with delicate bark is most negatively affected by a fight between strong winds. Homer emphasizes the different types of damaged trees as a proxy to show how far the war has infiltrated all aspects of life. This and the description of the wind shaking “wide-reaching branches” express the great …show more content…
The reader feels this sense of urgency particularly from language such as “overpowers” and “he fights for his breath” because the sense of risk is heightened as these animals fight for their survival (16. 823 & 826; 373). While the feeling of desperation is present, the reason that the animals are fighting so fiercely is because “both [want] to drink [a little spring of water]” (16.825; 373). This incongruence of an intense fight for a common want is illogical. The desire to drink is described as a simple want and not a great desire or need. It does not make sense that two animals would risk their lives over something as common place as a little stream to satisfy a typical thirst. In addition, there is nothing mutually exclusive about both animals drinking from the spring. Due to the replenishing nature of a spring, the satiation of one’s desires does not inherently prevent the satiation of the other’s desires. Through this, Homer is saying that Hektor and Patroklos have no real reason to fight each other. Even the most prominent individuals should have no reason to fight the enemies they are battling against. A similar idea is even presented in the wind simile. Homer’s choice to describe the Trojans and the Achaians as the “east wind and south wind” suggests that their goals do not need to conflict with each other (16.765; 372). Unlike east and west winds or south and north