Question

In Book 9 of The Odyssey, what convention of the epic is Homer using in the following passage?

"As a blacksmith plunges an axe or hatchet into cold water to temper it…it makes a great hiss as he does so, even thus did the Cyclops' eye hiss round the beam of olive wood..."

A. Allusion
B. Epic simile
C. Epithet
D. Invocation

Answer 1

B. Epic simile is the convention of the epic is Homer using in the above passage.

Epic simile is also identified as Homeric simile. It is called Homeric simile because of the Greek author Homer who uses such simile in his works, The Iliad and The Odyssey. Epic simile is a detailed comparison between two things that extends to many lines in length.