Final answer:
Crew fate is characterized through vivid similes and imagery in Homer's works and Stephen Crane's writings, painting scenes of afterlife, natural forces, and maritime ordeals.
Step-by-step explanation:
In the various texts referenced, the fate of crew members is depicted through vivid imagery and similes. For instance, Homer describes the afterlife in The Odyssey, noting that many souls wind up in Hades, with a select few heroes ending up in the Elysian Fields. In The Open Boat by Stephen Crane, the crew's desperate circumstances at sea are illustrated through intense personifications and metaphors, such as the sea being wrongfully and barbarously abrupt and tall. Finally, in passages detailing battle and shipwrecks, the crew's experiences are often portrayed with somber and stark imagery, highlighting the coldness of command and the gripping horror of impending doom in the face of nature's indifference or the chaos of conflict.
These literary devices serve to emphasize the crew's plight, the indifferent force of nature, and the stark reality of their situations, whether it be in classical mythology or naturalist literature.