Answer:
Normally, a simile compares the present event or people with another thing in a poem. If the simile carries so much detail and extends up to several lines, then it is called epic simile. In the lines 81-89, the simile explains about the survivor of the wrecked boat who finally manages to reach the shore.
He can finally hold his wife after a long time. Odysseus was also lost for a long time and is finding a way to return to Penelope. When he finally reaches the land, he cries in excitement like the survivor of the crashed boat.