Parts 1 and 2
Citations have three elements.
(11: 222/333)
11 indicates Book Eleven
222 identifies the line of the Greek text in the Loeb edition
of the Iliad
333 is for the first line of Robert Fagles
English translation.
| Part
1: Descriptions of Homeric Similes |
| Drop
Down to Part 2: Texts of Homeric Similes |
Thetis, the mother of Achilles, appears like a grey mist
The Greeks swarm like bees from their ships to hear Agamemnon
The troops of Agamemnon surge like waves (Simile one of two)
or as a field of corn swept by the west wind (Simile two of two)
The Greeks return to the assembly with a sound like the thunder of surf
Odysseus accuses the Greeks of being like murmuring children or widowed women
King Nestor also compares the Greeks to talking children
The Greek soldiers respond like waves breaking against a headland
The Greek armor shines like a raging forest fire flashing off the firmament (Simile one of eight)
The Greeks assemble as thick as a field covered with blooming flowers (Simile four of eight)
The Greeks are like swarms of flies around pails of milk (Simile five of eight)
The Greek leaders are like goatherders organizing their flocks (Simile six of eight)
Agamemnon's body like Zeus, Ares, and Poseidon (Simile seven of eight)
Agamemnon like a bull (Simile eight of eight)
Two rivers join but like oil on water they do not mingle
The chariot horses of Pheres are as fleet as birds and fierce as Ares
The two armies advance like fire and the earth shakes
The Greeks are as numerous as tree leaves or sand
Nastes, wearing golden armor, is foolish like a girl
The Trojans advance like wild cranes screaming and wrangling in the sky
The rising dust of the advancing armies is like a thick mountain mist
Menelaus is like a hungry lion when he sees Paris
Paris is frightened like a man who almost steps on a snake
The words of Hector to Paris are like a keen edged ax
The minds of young men are light as air
The old men of Troy like cicadas chirping from a high tree
Odysseus like a great stalking ram
The oratory of Odysseus is like a winter storm
Athena darts from Olympus like a meteor
Athena deflects an arrow like a mother whisking away a fly
The legs of Menalaus are stained with blood like dyed ivory
Agamemnon compares his faltering troops to frightened fawns and deer
Idomeneus leads the Cretans fierce as a wild boar
The troops of the Ajaxes are as thick as a black storm seen by a goatherder
The Greeks advance like crashing surf
The Trojans advance like ewes bleating to be milked
The two armies lock in battle like swollen flood torrents of water roaring through a gorge
Echopolus, speared by Antilochus, falls like a tower
The Trojans and Greeks fly upon one another like wolves
Simoisius is cut down by Ajax like a poplar tree by a wheelwright
Diomedes' shield and helmet flare like a star
Diomedes overwhelms the Trojans like a winter torrent flooding fields
Diomedes like a wounded lion slaughtering sheep
Diomedes springs on Echemmon and Chromius, sons of Priam, like a lion seizing a cow's neck
Aeneas defends the body of Pandarius like a lion full of strength
Sarpedon accuses the Trojans of cowardice like hounds before a lion
The Trojans are captured by cowardice like men in a net
The dust of battle whitens the Greeks like grain chaff upon a threshing floor
The two Ajaxes stiffen the Greek fighting line like immobile mountain top clouds
Diomedes is like a man who cannot cross a river of water
Hera's chariot moves as fast as sight
Hera and Athena appear on the battlefield like eager doves (simile one of three)
The strength and endurance of the Greeks are like lions and boars (simile two of three)
The goddess Hera enters the thick of the battle and shouts (simile three of three)
Ares is wounded in the belly by Diomedes and roars like ten thousand men
Ares beats a retreat like a rising storm thunderhead
Paeon's herbs curdle like fig juice poured into milk
Glaucus tells Diomedes men's live are like falling tree leaves
Hecuba offers Athena a robe that glitters like a star
The son of Hector, Astyanax, lovely as a star
Paris rejoins Hector exalting in his strength like a horse
Hector and Paris arrive like the wind saving becalmed sailors
The armies darken the plain like darkening wind blown seas
The Ajaxes clothed in valor answer Nestor's challenge to duel with Hector
Ajax appears like the god Mars
Ajax bears his shield like it was a wall
Hector says he is not a boy or a woman
Hector and Ajax fight like lions or boars
Zeus tells Poseidon his fame reaches as far as the new day's dawn (simile two of two)
The Trojans are nearly trapped like sheep in a pen
Teucer ducks under Ajax's shield like a child to its mother
Wounded, Gorgythion bows his head like a rain drenched poppy flower
Hector, like a hound gripping the flank of a lion, picks off fleeing Greeks
Hector's eyes glare like Gorgo or Ares
The Trojan watchfires are like clear shining stars
The Greek despair is like dark waves tossed by two storm winds
Agamemnon's tears like a stream running over the side of a cliff
Hector like a maniac man gone mad
Achilles like a starving mother-bird feeding her greedy nestlings
Achilles spurns the offered gifts as so much sand or dust
Prayers personified as the daughters of Zeus
Achilles treated like a tramp or vagrant
Agamemnon frets like storms and lightning sent by Zeus as omens of disaster
Bronze weapons flash like lightning
Nestor rouses Diomedes warning him that they are on the edge of a razor
The Greek sentries are as watchful as sheep dogs
Diomedes and Odysseus prowl the battlefield like two lions
Diomedes and Odysseus chase Dolan, a Trojan spy, like hounds after a doe or hare
Diomedes kills the sleeping Thracians like a lion on unprotected sheep or goats
Diomedes and Odysseus return with the spoils that are like sunbeams
The serpents of cyanus on Agamemnon's breastplate are like rainbows after a storm
Agamemnon's armor shines like a flame
The shield of Hector shines like a baneful star amidst clouds
Description of a woodman ready for lunch
Agamemnon kills Isus and Antiphus like the fawns of a helpless hind
Agamemnon confronts the sons of Antimachus (Peisander and Hipplochus) like a lion
Agamemnon rolls the head of Hippolochus towards the Trojans like a ball
The Greeks rout the Trojans like a raging forest fire
Trojans flee Agamemnon like cattle attacked in the night by a lion
Agamemnon drags Iphidamas towards him by his own spear like a furious lion
Agamemnon's spear is as fleet as the wind and he kills Coon
Agamemnon is overcome by pain as sharp as the pangs of labor
Hector swoops down on the Greeks like a sea storm tempest (simile two of two)
The heads of Greeks fall to Hector as thickly as clouds broken and driven in a storm
Diomedes and Odysseus turn on the Trojans like boars on pursuing hounds
The Trojans fear Diomedes like a goat fears a lion
The Trojans close around Odysseus like hounds upon a wild boar
The Trojans set upon Odysseus like jackals on the carcass of a stag (Simile one of two)
Ajax sends the Trojans scurrying like a fierce lion (Simile two of two)
Ajax crashes through the Trojans like a storm swollen river of water torrent
The Trojans surround Ajax like peasants surrounding a lion with fire and hounds (simile one of two)
Ajax, like a lazy ass driven from a corn field, is finally forced back (simile two of two)
The Trojans advance on Ajax and the Greeks like an advancing fire
Nestor tells Achilles how he once could fight like a whirlwind
Hector terrifies the Greeks like a whirlwind, a lion, a wild boar
Asius charges the Greek gates but comes against two defenders like oak trees (Simile one of five)
Polypoetes and Leonteus fight like boars (Simile two of five)
Stones fall like winter storm snow (Simile three of five)
The Greeks fight like wasps (Simile four of five)
The battle is like a fiery furnace (Simile five of five)
Stones accumulate thick as blizzard snows (Simile one of four)
Sarpedon breaks down the gates like a starved lion (Simile two of four)
Ajax and Teucer run to where the fighting is like a cloud (Simile three of four)
Epicles of Lycia, slain by Ajax, topples from the wall like a sea diver (Simile four of four)
The armies struggle like two farmers quarreling over boundaries (Simile one of three)
The battle lines are balanced against one another like scales (Simile two of three)
Hector picks up a boulder like it was a fleece (Simile three of three)
Hector's face like night and his eyes like fires
The Trojans advance like a storm cloud and fire (Simile one of three)
Hector like a pillar of fire (Simile two of three)
Poseidon departs like a falcon (Simile three of three)
The Trojans usually like frightened deer
Hector charges like a boulder thundering off a mountain
The Trojan Imbrius falls like a felled ash-tree
Like lions, the two Greeks, Stichius and Menestheus drag the body of Imbrius away
The armor of Idomeneus flashes like lightning
No more talking like children says Idomeneus to his comrade Meriones (Simile one of two)
Meriones like the god Ares (Simile two of two)
Idomeneus like a flame of fire (Simile one of two)
A battle like a dust storm (Simile two of two)
Asius, a Trojan, is felled by Idomeneus like a tree for timber
Alcathous, a Trojan, paralyzed by Poseidon like a pillar or tree
Idomeneus faces Aeneas like a wild boar (Simile one of two)
The Trojans follow Aeneas like sheep behind their ram (Simile two of two)
Meriones springs like a vulture to yank a spear out of the body of Deiphobus, a son of Priam
An arrow shot by Helenus ricocheting off the breastplate of Menelaus sounds like pattering beans
Harpalion, an ally of the Trojans, lies dying in the dust like a crushed worm
The battle like a swirling fire
The Ajaxes fight together like yoked oxen
The fight hems Hector in like a circle of fire
Hector moves like a snowy mountain
The Trojans advance like fierce winds and crashing waves
Nestor, like a seasoned sailor just before a storm, sees the Greeks panic
Poseidon's battle cry like ten thousand men shouting
Hera's headdress shimmers like the sun
Poseidon's sword flashes like lightning (Simile one of two)
Hector falls like an oak struck and uprooted by lightning
Peneleos displays the speared head of Ilioneus, a Trojan, like a poppy flower
Hera goes to Olympus as swift as thought
The clouds encircle Zeus like a diadem
Iris like wind driven winter storm snow
Hector like a vaunting horse (Simile one of two)
The Greeks, like peasants, are frightened by the lion-like Hector (Simile two of two)
The Greeks panic like cattle or sheep sprung upon by wild beasts
Apollo bridges the Greek trench as wide as a spear throw (Simile one of two)
Apollo destroys the Greek wall as if it were a child's sand castle (Simile two of two)
The Trojans leap over the wall like storm driven sea waves over a ships bulwarks
The battle lines are tightly locked together like a carpenter's stretched line
The Greeks stand like a wall of iron
Antilochus springs on Melinippus' body like a dog on a fawn (Simile one of three)
Antilochus runs from Hector like a guilty animal (Simile two of three)
The Trojans are made fierce as lions by Zeus (Simile three of three)
The fury of Hector is like a forest fire (Simile one of four)
The Greeks like a tower or a cliff resist Hector like fire (Simile two of four)
Hector terrifies the Greeks like a ship floundering wave (Simile three of four)
Hector like a lion attacking cattle (Simile four of four)
Ajax like a performer jumping amidst galloping horses (Simile one of two)
Hector swoops on the ships like an eagle upon swimming fowls (Simile two of two)
Patroclus cries like a crystal water stream falling over a cliff ledge (Simile one of two)
Patroclus cries like a silly child (Simile two of two)
Achilles accuses Agamemnon of treating him like a common vagrant
The horses of Achilles fly like the wind
The Myrmidons as fierce as bloody jawed wolves
The Myrmidons form ranks like a tightly fitted stone wall
The Myrmidons swarm around Patroclus like furious wasps
The ship fires are put out like dense lightning streaked clouds
Greek captains fall on their Trojan counterparts like wolves on isolated lambs
Panic envelopes the Trojans like an unexpected storm
The Trojan horses strain forward like a furious storm tempest
Patroclus spears Thestor like a fish
Patroclus and Sarpedon rush at one another like screaming vultures
Sarpedon falls like an axed oak, poplar, or pine tree (Simile one of two)
Sarpedon dies like a bull under a lion (Simile two of two)
Patroclus attacks the Trojans like a hawk attacking small birds (Simile one of two)
The Trojans retreat a full javelin throw (Simile two of two)
The distant sound of battle like the thud of axes (Simile one of two)
Greeks and Trojans fight around Sarpedon's body like flies around pails of milk (Simile two of two)
Patroclus taunts the dead Cebriones for falling like a diver (Simile one of four)
Patroclus springs on Cebriones like a lion in a stockyard (Simile two of four)
Hector and Patroclus fight like two lions over a stag (Simile three of four)
The fight over Cebriones is like a mountain wind storm breaking tree limbs (Simile four of four)
Hector kills Patroclus like a lion that kills a wild boar
Menelaus defends the body of Patroclus
like a cow standing over her calf
Menelaus compares Panthous' pride to a leopard, a lion, and a wild boar
Menelaus is like a lion the herders are too afraid of to chase away (Simile two of two)
Hector charges to the battle like a blazing fire
Surrounded by Trojans, Menelaus is driven back like a lion retreating from a stockyard
Ajax stands over the body of Patroclus like a lion guarding its cubs
The Trojan charge is like a huge sea wave
Ajax scatters the Trojans like dogs or hounds pursued by a wild boar
The battle is waged in darkness
The Greeks and Trojans pull on the body of Patroclus like tanners stretching an oxhide
The chariot horses of Achilles are like pillars refusing to move from grief
Automedon like a vulture amid a flock of geese (Simile one of two)
Aretus falls dead like an ox felled by one blow (Simile two of two)
Automedon's extremities covered in gore like a lion feasting on a bull
Athena arrives like a rainbow warning men of war and storm
Athena emboldens Menelaus like a blood hungry fly
Menelaus is beaten off despite his lion-like assault
Menelaus looks with the eyes of an eagle for Antilochus
The Trojans are like hounds encouraged by hunters to attack a wounded boar
The battle rages like a wildfire destroying a city (Simile one of four)
Menelaus and Meriones are like mules dragging a ship's timber (Simile two of four)
The Ajaxes block the Trojans like a mountain that deflects a river of water (Simile three of four)
The Greeks retreat like small birds before a falcon (Simile four of four)
Flaming fire describes the fighting
Thetis, mother of Achilles. likens his youth to a strong sapling tree in a garden
The Trojans close around the body like the flames of a furnace (Simile one of two)
Hector is like a famished lion the herders cannot drive away (Simile two of two)
Achilles blazes like the shining beacon fires of a besieged city (Simile one of two)
Achilles shouts like a terrifying trumpet (Simile two of two)
Achilles mourns for Patroclus like a revengeful lion whose young cubs have been killed by a hunter
Achilles as a youth compared to a sapling tree a second time by Thetis
Like a falcon, Thetis carries the armor to Achilles
The eyes of Achilles gleamed like a fierce light
Like a falcon Athena delivers ambrosia to Achilles (Simile one of three)
The Greeks march forward thick and numerous as snow flakes in a storm (Simile two of three)
Achilles eyes, great with grief, gleam like fire (Simile three of three)
The shield of Achilles shines like the moon (Simile one of four)
Achilles helmet shines like a star (Simile three of four)
Achilles armor lifts him like wings (Simile four of four)
Achilles gleams like Hyperion, god of the sun
Ares, dark as a storm cloud, shouts
Like an enraged lion, Achilles engages Aeneas
Aeneas scolds Achilles for wasting time like children and women arguing
Bravery garbs Achilles like a garment
Hippodamas, dying, bellows like a bull dragged to sacrifice
Achilles like a fire destroying drought stricken mountain forests (Simile one of two)
Trojans die like fish trapped by a ravenous dolphin (Simile two of three)
Achilles captures twelve Trojans like frightened fawns (Simile three of three)
The river god Xanthus raises his waves bellowing like a bull
Achilles flees the river god as swiftly as an eagle (Simile one of two)
The water overruns Achilles like a stream flooding a ditch (Simile two of two)
Achilles fears he will die like a drowned swineherder's boy
Hephaestus' flames consume the dead Trojans like the North wind drying an orchard
Xanthus boils like bubbling lard over a fire
Mankind ephemeral as summer's tree leaves
Artemis reigns like a lion over women
Artemis escapes Hera like a dove fleeing a falcon
Achilles covers the Trojans with sorrow like smoke from a burning city
Agenor attacks Achilles fearlessly like a leopard
Achilles races onwards like a victorious racing horse (Simile one of two)
The arms of Achilles blaze like a radiant star (Simile two of two)
Hector like a furious snake awaits Achilles
Talking to Achilles is as useless as women and children prattling (Simile one of four)
Achilles comes before Hector flashing like the rising sun (Simile two of four)
Achilles runs after Hector like a falcon attacking a dove (Simile three of four)
The waters of a duel flowing fountain like fire and ice (Simile four of four)
Achilles and Hector race like two horses in a chariot race
Achilles like a hound and Hector a fawn (Simile one of two)
Achilles and Hector run as if in an endless dream (Simile two of two)
Hector springs on Achilles like an eagle upon a lamb or hare (Simile one of two)
The spear of Achilles gleams bright like Venus the evening star (Simile two of two)
The Trojans weep for Hector's death as if the city itself was burning
Andromache, wife of Hector, rushes to the ramparts like a maniac
The spirit of Patroclus like vapor
The crowds of Myrmidons like a cloud
Achilles mourns Patroclus like a father for his dead bridegroom son
The chariots raise dust like a whirlwind
The anger of Menelaus is softened like ripening corn covered with dew
Epeus is knocked down like a leaping fish falling back into the waves
The wrestlers Ajax and Odysseus grasp each other like roofing beams
Odysseus runs behind Ajax closer than a weaver's shuttle to her bosom
Polypoetes hurls the shot like a mere stick
Iris drops as fast as a fisherman's lead tipped oxhorn
Zeus sends an eagle whose wings spread as wide as doors
Hermes appears like a young man
Priam's presence as if he were a murderer seeking refuge
Cassandra appears like Venus standing on the mountain Pergamus
Hector's corpse like fresh dew
| PART 2: TEXTS OF HOMERIC SIMILES |
| Go
to Part 1: Descriptions of Homeric Similes |
Apollo's face dark as night
So he spake in prayer, and Phoebus Apollo heard his prayer. He
came down furious from the summits of Olympus, with his bow and
his quiver upon his shoulder, and the arrows rattled on his back
with the rage that trembled within him. He sat himself down away
from the ships with a face as dark as night, and his silver bow
rang death as he shot his arrow in the midst of them. (1: 43/50)
Return to Book 1: Descriptions
Thetis, the mother of Achilles, appears like a grey mist
As he spoke he wept aloud, and his mother heard him where she
was sitting in the depths of the sea hard by the old man her father.
Forthwith she rose as it were a grey mist out of the waves, (1: 357/422)
Return to Book 1: Descriptions
The Greeks swarm like bees from their ships to hear Agamemnon
With this he led the way from the assembly, and the other sceptred
kings rose with him in obedience to the word of Agamemnon; but
the people pressed forward to hear. They swarmed like bees that
sally from some hollow cave and flit in countless throng among
the spring flowers, bunched in knots and clusters; even so did
the mighty multitude pour from ships and tents to the assembly,
and range themselves upon the wide-watered shore, while among
them ran Wildfire Rumour, messenger of Jove, urging them ever
to the fore. Thus they gathered in a pell-mell of mad confusion,
and the earth groaned under the tramp of men as the people sought
their places. (2: 84/100) [NOTE:"Wildfire
Rumour" is translated as a simile by Fagles: "Rumour,
Zeus's crier, like wildfire blazing among them"]
Return to Book 2 of the Simile Descriptions
The troops of Agamemnon surge like waves (Simile one of
two)
With these words he moved the hearts of the multitude, so many
of them as knew not the cunning counsel of Agamemnon. They surged
to and fro like the waves of the Icarian Sea, when the east and
south winds break from heaven's clouds to lash them; (2: 142/165)
//CONTINUES//
Return to Book 2 of the Simile Descriptions
or as a field of corn swept by the west wind (Simile two
of two)
or as when the west wind sweeps over a field of corn and the ears
bow beneath the blast, even so were they swayed as they flew with
loud cries towards the ships, and the dust from under their feet
rose heavenward. They cheered each other on to draw the ships
into the sea; they cleared the channels in front of them; they
began taking away the stays from underneath them, and the welkin
rang with their glad cries, so eager were they to return. (2: 147/171)
Return to Book 2 of the Simile Descriptions
The Greeks return to the assembly with a sound like the
thunder of surf
Thus masterfully did he go about among the host, and the people
hurried back to the council from their tents and ships with a
sound as the thunder of surf when it comes crashing down upon
the shore, and all the sea is in an uproar. (2: 200/229)
Return to Book 2 of the Simile Descriptions
Odysseus accuses the Greeks of being like murmuring children
or widowed women
"King Agamemnon, the Achaeans are for making you a by-word
among all mankind. They forget the promise they made you when
they set out from Argos, that you should not return till you had
sacked the town of Troy, and, like children or widowed women,
they murmur and would set off homeward. (2: 284/331)
Return to Book 2 of the Simile Descriptions
King Nestor also compares the Greeks to talking children
On this the Argives raised a shout, till the ships rang again
with the uproar. Nestor, knight of Gerene, then addressed them.
"Shame on you," he cried, "to stay talking here
like children, when you should fight like men. (2: 333/394)
Return to Book 2 of the Simile Descriptions
The Greek soldiers respond like waves breaking against a
headland
Thus he spoke, and the Achaeans roared applause. As when the waves
run high before the blast of the south wind and break on some
lofty headland, dashing against it and buffeting it without ceasing,
as the storms from every quarter drive them, even so did the Achaeans
rise and hurry in all directions to their ships. There they lighted
their fires at their tents and got dinner, offering sacrifice
every man to one or other of the gods, and praying each one of
them that he might live to come out of the fight. (2: 394/468)
Return to Book 2 of the Simile Descriptions
The Greek armor shines like a raging forest fire flashing
off the firmament (Simile one of eight)
Minerva went among them holding her priceless aegis that knows
neither age nor death. From it there waved a hundred tassels of
pure gold, all deftly woven, and each one of them worth a hundred
oxen. With this she darted furiously everywhere among the hosts
of the Achaeans, urging them forward, and putting courage into
the heart of each, so that he might fight and do battle without
ceasing. Thus war became sweeter in their eyes even than returning
home in their ships. As when some great forest fire is raging
upon a mountain top and its light is seen afar, even so as they
marched the gleam of their armour flashed up into the firmament
of heaven.(2: 446/528) //CONTINUES//
Return to Book 2 of the Simile Descriptions
The Greeks are like screaming flocks of geese, or cranes,
or swans AND the ground rings like brass (Similes two[three of
eight)
They were like great flocks of geese, or cranes, or swans on the
plain about the waters of Cayster, that wing their way hither
and thither, glorying in the pride of flight, and crying as they
settle till the fen is alive with their screaming. Even thus did
their tribes pour from ships and tents on to the plain of the
Scamander, and the ground rang as brass under the feet of men
and horses. (2: 459/543) //CONTINUES//
Return to Book 2 of the Simile Descriptions
The Greeks assemble as thick as a field covered with blooming
flowers (Simile four of eight)
They stood as thick upon the flower-bespangled field as leaves
that bloom in summer. (2: 467/552) //CONTINUES//
Return to Book 2 of the Simile Descriptions
The Greeks are like swarms of flies around pails of milk
(Simile five of eight)
As countless swarms of flies buzz around a herdsman's homestead
in the time of spring when the pails are drenched with milk, even
so did the Achaeans swarm on to the plain to charge the Trojans
and destroy them. (2: 469/556) //CONTINUES//
Return to Book 2 of the Simile Descriptions
The Greek leaders are like goatherders organizing their
flocks (Simile six of eight)
The chiefs disposed their men this way and that before the fight
began, drafting them out as easily as goatherds draft their flocks
when they have got mixed while feeding; (2: 474/560) //CONTINUES//
Return to Book 2 of the Simile Descriptions
Agamemnon's body like Zeus, Ares, and Poseidon (Simile seven
of eight)
and among them went King Agamemnon, with a head and face like
Jove the lord of thunder, a waist like Mars, and a chest like
that of Neptune. (2: 476/565) //CONTINUES//
Return to Book 2 of the Simile Descriptions
Agamemnon like a bull (Simile eight of eight)
As some great bull that lords it over the herds upon the plain,
even so did Jove make the son of Atreus stand peerless among the
multitude of heroes. (2: 480/569)
Return to Book 2 of the Simile Descriptions
Two rivers join but like oil on water do not mingle
Guneus brought two and twenty ships from Cyphus, and he was followed
by the Enienes and the valiant Peraebi, who dwelt about wintry
Dodona, and held the lands round the lovely river Titaresius,
which sends its waters into the Peneus. They do not mingle with
the silver eddies of the Peneus, but flow on the top of them like
oil; for the Titaresius is a branch of dread Orcus and of the
river Styx. (2: 748/850)
Return to Book 2 of the Simile Descriptions
The chariot horses of Pheres are as fleet as birds and fierce
as Ares
Of the horses, those of the son of Pheres were by far the finest.
They were driven by Eumelus, and were as fleet as birds. They
were of the same age and colour, and perfectly matched in height.
Apollo, of the silver bow, had bred them in Perea- both of them
mares, and terrible as Mars in battle. (2: 763/866)
Return to Book 2 of the Simile Descriptions
The two armies advance like fire and the earth shakes
Thus marched the host like a consuming fire, and the earth groaned
beneath them when the lord of thunder is angry and lashes the
land about Typhoeus among the Arimi, where they say Typhoeus lies.
Even so did the earth groan beneath them as they sped over the
plain. (2: 780/886)
Return to Book 2 of the Simile Descriptions
The Greeks are as numerous as tree leaves or sand
I have been in many a battle, but never yet saw such a host as
is now advancing. They are crossing the plain to attack the city
as thick as leaves or as the sands of the sea. (2: 798/908)
Return to Book 2 of the Simile Descriptions
Nastes, wearing golden armor, is foolish like a girl
Nastes led the Carians, men of a strange speech. These held Miletus
and the wooded mountain of Phthires, with the water of the river
Maeander and the lofty crests of Mt. Mycale. These were commanded
by Nastes and Amphimachus, the brave sons of Nomion. He came into
the fight with gold about him, like a girl; fool that he was,
his gold was of no avail to save him, for he fell in the river
by the hand of the fleet descendant of Aeacus, and Achilles bore
away his gold. (2: 867/979)
Return to Book 2 of the Simile Descriptions
The Trojans advance like wild cranes screaming and wrangling
in the sky
When the companies were thus arrayed, each under its own captain,
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 Oceanus to bring death and destruction on the Pygmies, and
they wrangle in the air as they fly;(3: 1/1)
Return to Book 3 of the Simile Descriptions
The rising dust of the advancing armies is like a thick
mountain mist
As when the south wind spreads a curtain of mist upon the mountain
tops, bad for shepherds but better than night for thieves, and
a man can see no further than he can throw a stone, even so rose
the dust from under their feet as they made all speed over the
plain. (3: 10/10)
Return to Book 3 of the Simile Descriptions
Menelaus is like a hungry lion when he sees Paris
Menelaus saw him thus stride out before the ranks, and was glad
as a hungry lion that lights on the carcase of some goat or horned
stag, and devours it there and then, though dogs and youths set
upon him. (3: 21/23)
Return to Book 3 of the Simile Descriptions
Paris is frightened like a man who almost steps on a snake
Alexandrus quailed as he saw Menelaus come forward, and shrank
in fear of his life under cover of his men. As one who starts
back affrighted, trembling and pale, when he comes suddenly upon
a serpent in some mountain glade, even so did Alexandrus plunge
into the throng of Trojan warriors, terror-stricken at the sight
of the son Atreus. (3: 31/34)
Return to Book 3 of the Simile Descriptions
The words of Hector to Paris are like a keen edged ax
And Alexandrus answered, "Hector, your rebuke is just. You
are hard as the axe which a shipwright wields at his work, and
cleaves the timber to his liking. As the axe in his hand, so keen
is the edge of your scorn. (3: 60/70)
Return to Book 3 of the Simile Descriptions
The minds of young men are light as air
Young men's minds are light as air, but when an old man comes
he looks before and after, deeming that which shall be fairest
upon both sides." (3: 108/131)
Return to Book 3 of the Simile Descriptions
The old men of Troy like cicadas chirping from a high tree
The two sages, Ucalegon and Antenor, elders of the people, were
seated by the Scaean gates, with Priam, Panthous, Thymoetes, Lampus,
Clytius, and Hiketaon of the race of Mars. These were too old
to fight, but they were fluent orators, and sat on the tower like
cicadas that chirrup delicately from the boughs of some high tree
in a wood. (3: 148/179)
Return to Book 3 of the Simile Descriptions
Odysseus like a great stalking ram
The old man next looked upon Ulysses; "Tell me," he
said, "who is that other, shorter by a head than Agamemnon,
but broader across the chest and shoulders? His armour is laid
upon the ground, and he stalks in front of the ranks as it were
some great woolly ram ordering his ewes." (3: 191/231)
Return to Book 3 of the Simile Descriptions
The oratory of Odysseus is like a winter storm
Ulysses, on the other hand, when he rose to speak, was at first
silent and kept his eyes fixed upon the ground. There was no play
nor graceful movement of his sceptre; he kept it straight and
stiff like a man unpractised in oratory- one might have taken
him for a mere churl or simpleton; but when he raised his voice,
and the words came driving from his deep chest like winter snow
before the wind, then there was none to touch him, and no man
thought further of what he looked like." (3: 216/265)
Return to Book 3 of the Simile Descriptions
Athena darts from Olympus like a meteor
This was what Minerva was already eager to do, so down she darted
from the topmost summits of Olympus. She shot through the sky
as some brilliant meteor which the son of scheming Saturn has
sent as a sign to mariners or to some great army, and a fiery
train of light follows in its wake. (4: 73/85)
Return to Book 4 of the Simile Descriptions
Athena deflects an arrow like a mother whisking away a fly
She turned it from his skin as a mother whisks a fly from off
her child when it is sleeping sweetly; she guided it to the part
where the golden buckles of the belt that passed over his double
cuirass were fastened, so the arrow struck the belt that went
tightly round him. (4: 130/148)
Return to Book 4 of the Simile Descriptions
The legs of Menalaus are stained with blood like dyed ivory
As when some woman of Meonia or Caria strains purple dye on to
a piece of ivory that is to be the cheek-piece of a horse, and
is to be laid up in a treasure house- many a knight is fain to
bear it, but the king keeps it as an ornament of which both horse
and driver may be proud- even so, O Menelaus, were your shapely
thighs and your legs down to your fair ancles stained with blood.
(4: 141/160)
Return to Book 4 of the Simile Descriptions
Agamemnon compares his faltering troops to frightened fawns
and deer
But he angrily rebuked those whom he saw shirking and disinclined
to fight. "Argives," he cried, "cowardly miserable
creatures, have you no shame to stand here like frightened fawns
who, when they can no longer scud over the plain, huddle together,
but show no fight? You are as dazed and spiritless as deer. (4: 240/275)
Return to Book 4 of the Simile Descriptions
Idomeneus leads the Cretans fierce as a wild boar
Passing through the crowd, he came presently on the Cretans, arming
round Idomeneus, who was at their head, fierce as a wild boar,
while Meriones was bringing up the battalions that were in the
rear. (4: 250/287)
Return to Book 4 of the Simile Descriptions
The troops of the Ajaxes are as thick as a black storm seen
by a goatherder
The son of Atreus went on, glad at heart, till he came upon the
two Ajaxes arming themselves amid a host of foot-soldiers. As
when a goat-herd from some high post watches a storm drive over
the deep before the west wind- black as pitch is the offing and
a mighty whirlwind draws towards him, so that he is afraid and
drives his flock into a cave- even thus did the ranks of stalwart
youths move in a dark mass to battle under the Ajaxes, horrid
with shield and spear. Glad was King Agamemnon when he saw them.
(4: 272/310)
Return to Book 4 of the Simile Descriptions
The Greeks advance like crashing surf
As when some mighty wave that thunders on the beach when the west
wind has lashed it into fury- it has reared its head afar and
now comes crashing down on the shore; it bows its arching crest
high over the jagged rocks and spews its salt foam in all directions-
even so did the serried phalanxes of the Danaans march steadfastly
to battle. (4: 422/489)
Return to Book 4 of the Simile Descriptions
The Trojans advance like ewes bleating to be milked
But the clamour of the Trojan ranks was as that of many thousand
ewes that stand waiting to be milked in the yards of some rich
flockmaster, and bleat incessantly in answer to the bleating of
their lambs; for they had not one speech nor language, but their
tongues were diverse, and they came from many different places.
(4: 433/503)
Return to Book 4 of the Simile Descriptions
The two armies lock in battle like swollen flood torrents
of water roaring through a gorge
As torrents swollen with rain course madly down their deep channels
till the angry floods meet in some gorge, and the shepherd on
the hillside hears their roaring from afar- even such was the
toil and uproar of the hosts as they joined in battle. (4: 446/517)
Return to Book 4 of the Simile Descriptions
Echopolus, speared by Antilochus, falls like a tower
First Antilochus slew an armed warrior of the Trojans, Echepolus,
son of Thalysius, fighting in the foremost ranks. He struck at
the projecting part of his helmet and drove the spear into his
brow; the point of bronze pierced the bone, and darkness veiled
his eyes; headlong as a tower he fell amid the press of the fight,
(4: 457/529)
Return to Book 4 of the Simile Descriptions
The Trojans and Greeks fly upon one another like wolves
Then the fight between Trojans and Achaeans grew furious over
his body (King Elephenor), and they flew upon each other like
wolves, man and man crushing one upon the other. (4: 470/544)
Return to Book 4 of the Simile Descriptions
Simoisius is cut down by Ajax like a poplar tree by a wheelwright
Therefore he was named Simoeisius, but he did not live to pay
his parents for his rearing, for he was cut off untimely by the
spear of mighty Ajax, who struck him in the breast by the right
nipple as he was coming on among the foremost fighters; the spear
went right through his shoulder, and he fell as a poplar that
has grown straight and tall in a meadow by some mere, and its
top is thick with branches. Then the wheelwright lays his axe
to its roots that he may fashion a felloe for the wheel of some
goodly chariot, and it lies seasoning by the waterside. In such
wise did Ajax fell to earth Simoeisius, son of Anthemion. (4: 473/547)
Return to Book 4 of the Simile Descriptions
Diomedes' shield and helmet flare like a star
Then Pallas Minerva put valour into the heart of Diomed, son of
Tydeus, that he might excel all the other Argives, and cover himself
with glory. She made a stream of fire flare from his shield and
helmet like the star that shines most brilliantly in summer after
its bath in the waters of Oceanus- even such a fire did she kindle
upon his head and shoulders as she bade him speed into the thickest
hurly-burly of the fight. (5: 1/1)
Return to Book 5 of the Simile Descriptions
Diomedes overwhelms the Trojans like a winter torrent flooding
fields
Thus furiously did the battle rage between them. As for the son
of Tydeus, you could not say whether he was more among the Achaeans
or the Trojans. He rushed across the plain like a winter torrent
that has burst its barrier in full flood; no dykes, no walls of
fruitful vineyards can embank it when it is swollen with rain
from heaven, but in a moment it comes tearing onward, and lays
many a field waste that many a strong man hand has reclaimed-
even so were the dense phalanxes of the Trojans driven in rout
by the son of Tydeus, and many though they were, they dared not
abide his onslaught. (5: 84/93)
Return to Book 5 of the Simile Descriptions
Diomedes like a wounded lion slaughtering sheep
When she had said this Minerva went away, and the son of Tydeus
again took his place among the foremost fighters, three times
more fierce even than he had been before. He was like a lion that
some mountain shepherd has wounded, but not killed, as he is springing
over the wall of a sheep-yard to attack the sheep. The shepherd
has roused the brute to fury but cannot defend his flock, so he
takes shelter under cover of the buildings, while the sheep, panic-stricken
on being deserted, are smothered in heaps one on top of the other,
and the angry lion leaps out over the sheep-yard wall. Even thus
did Diomed go furiously about among the Trojans. (5: 133/148)
Return to Book 5 of the Simile Descriptions
Diomedes springs on Echemmon and Chromius sons of Priam,
like a lion seizing a cow's neck
Then he came upon two sons of Priam, Echemmon and Chromius, as
they were both in one chariot. He sprang upon them as a lion fastens
on the neck of some cow or heifer when the herd is feeding in
a coppice. For all their vain struggles he flung them both from
their chariot and stripped the armour from their bodies. Then
he gave their horses to his comrades to take them back to the
ships. (5: 159/178)
Return to Book 5 of the Simile Descriptions
Aeneas defends the body of Pandarius like a lion full of
strength
Aeneas sprang from his chariot armed with shield and spear, fearing
lest the Achaeans should carry off the body. He bestrode it as
a lion in the pride of strength, with shield and on spear before
him and a cry of battle on his lips resolute to kill the first
that should dare face him. (5: 297/330)
Return to Book 5 of the Simile Descriptions
Sarpedon accuses the Trojans of cowardice like hounds before
a lion
Then Sarpedon rebuked Hector very sternly. "Hector,"
said he, "where is your prowess now? You used to say that
though you had neither people nor allies you could hold the town
alone with your brothers and brothers-in-law. I see not one of
them here; they cower as hounds before a lion; it is we, your
allies, who bear the brunt of the battle. (5: 470/540)
Return to Book 5 of the Simile Descriptions
The Trojans are trapped like men in a net
I head my Lycian soldiers and stand my ground against any who
would fight me though I have nothing here for the Achaeans to
plunder, while you look on, without even bidding your men stand
firm in defense of their wives. See that you fall not into the
hands of your foes as men caught in the meshes of a net, and they
sack your fair city forthwith." (5: 477/555)
Return to Book 5 of the Simile Descriptions
The dust of battle whitens the Greeks like grain chaff upon
a threshing floor
Then they rallied and again faced the Achaeans, but the Argives
stood compact and firm, and were not driven back. As the breezes
sport with the chaff upon some goodly threshing-floor, when men
are winnowing- while yellow Ceres blows with the wind to sift
the chaff from the grain, and the chaff- heaps grow whiter and
whiter- even so did the Achaeans whiten in the dust which the
horses' hoofs raised to the firmament of heaven, as their drivers
turned them back to battle, and they bore down with might upon
the foe. (5: 495/571)
Return to Book 5 of the Simile Descriptions
The two Ajaxes stiffen the Greek fighting line like immobile
mountain top clouds
The two Ajaxes, Ulysses and Diomed, cheered the Danaans on, fearless
of the fury and onset of the Trojans. They stood as still as clouds
which the son of Saturn has spread upon the mountain tops when
there is no air and fierce Boreas sleeps with the other boisterous
winds whose shrill blasts scatter the clouds in all directions-
even so did the Danaans stand firm and unflinching against the
Trojans. (5: 519/599)
Return to Book 5 of the Simile Descriptions
Crethon and Orsilochus, sons of Diocles, are slain by Aeneas
like maurauding lions and fall like felled trees
Crethon and Orsilochus, well skilled in all the arts of war. These,
when they grew up, went to Ilius with the Argive fleet in the
cause of Menelaus and Agamemnon sons of Atreus, and there they
both of them fell. As two lions whom their dam has reared in the
depths of some mountain forest to plunder homesteads and carry
off sheep and cattle till they get killed by the hand of man,
so were these two vanquished by Aeneas, and fell like high pine-trees
to the ground. (5: 555/630)
Return to Book 5 of the Simile Descriptions
Diomedes is like a man who cannot cross a river of water
Diomed shook with passion as he saw them. As a man crossing a
wide plain is dismayed to find himself on the brink of some great
river rolling swiftly to the sea- he sees its boiling waters and
starts back in fear- even so did the son of Tydeus give ground.
(5: 575/684)
Return to Book 5 of the Simile Descriptions
Hera's chariot moves as fast as sight
Juno did as he had said. She lashed her horses, and they flew
forward nothing loth midway betwixt earth and sky. As far as a
man can see when he looks out upon the sea from some high beacon,
so far can the loud-neighing horses of the gods spring at a single
bound. When they reached Troy and the place where its two flowing
streams Simois and Scamander meet, there Juno stayed them and
took them from the chariot. She hid them in a thick cloud, and
Simois made ambrosia spring up for them to eat; (5: 768/882)
Return to Book 5 of the Simile Descriptions
Hera and Athena appear on the battlefield like eager doves
(simile one of three)
the two goddesses then went on, flying like turtledoves in their
eagerness to help the Argives. (5: 778/896) //CONTINUES//
Return to Book 5 of the Simile Descriptions
The strength and endurance of the Greeks is like lions and
boars (simile two of three)
When they came to the part where the bravest and most in number
were gathered about mighty Diomed, fighting like lions or wild
boars of great strength and endurance, (5: 780/898) //CONTINUES//
Return to Book 5 of the Simile Descriptions
The goddess Hera enters the thick of the battle and shouts
(simile three of three)
there Juno stood still and raised a shout like that of brazen-voiced
Stentor, whose cry was as loud as that of fifty men together.
(5: 783/902)
Return to Book 5 of the Simile Descriptions
Ares is wounded in the belly by Diomedes and roars like
ten thousand men
Mars roared as loudly as nine or ten thousand men in the thick
of a fight, and the Achaeans and Trojans were struck with panic,
so terrible was the cry he raised. (5: 859/990)
Return to Book 5 of the Simile Descriptions
Ares beats a retreat like a rising storm thunderhead
As a dark cloud in the sky when it comes on to blow after heat,
even so did Diomed son of Tydeus see Mars ascend into the broad
heavens. (5: 864/998)
Return to Book 5 of the Simile Descriptions
Paeon's herbs curdles like fig juice poured into milk
He then bade Paeeon heal him, whereon Paeeon spread pain-killing
herbs upon his wound and cured him, for he was not of mortal mould.
As the juice of the fig-tree curdles milk, and thickens it in
a moment though it is liquid, even so instantly did Paeeon cure
fierce Mars. Then Hebe washed him, and clothed him in goodly raiment,
and he took his seat by his father Jove all glorious to behold.
(5: 899/1041)
Return to Book 5 of the Simile Descriptions
Glaucus tells Diomedes men's live are like falling tree
leaves
And the son of Hippolochus answered, son of Tydeus, why ask me
of my lineage? Men come and go as leaves year by year upon the
trees. Those of autumn the wind sheds upon the ground, but when
spring returns the forest buds forth with fresh vines. Even so
is it with the generations of mankind, the new spring up as the
old are passing away. (6: 142/169)
Return to Book 6 of the Simile Descriptions
Hecuba offers Athena a robe that glitters like a star
Hecuba took out the largest robe, and the one that was most beautifully
enriched with embroidery, as an offering to Minerva: it glittered
like a star, and lay at the very bottom of the chest. With this
she went on her way and many matrons with her. (6: 293/348)
Return to Book 6 of the Simile Descriptions
The son of Hector, Astyanax, lovely as a star
Hector's darling son, and lovely as a star. Hector had named him
Scamandrius, but the people called him Astyanax, for his father
stood alone as chief guardian of Ilius. (6: 399/472)
Return to Book 6 of the Simile Descriptions
Paris rejoins Hector exaulting in his strength like a horse
Paris did not remain long in his house. He donned his goodly armour
overlaid with bronze, and hasted through the city as fast as his
feet could take him. 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 armour, and he laughed aloud as he sped swiftly
on his way. (6: 503/601)
Return to Book 6 of the Simile Descriptions
Hector and Paris arrive like the wind saving becalmed sailors
With these words Hector passed through the gates, and his brother
Alexandrus with him, both eager for the fray. As when heaven sends
a breeze to sailors who have long looked for one in vain, and
have laboured at their oars till they are faint with toil, even
so welcome was the sight of these two heroes to the Trojans. (7: 1/1)
Return to Book 7 of the Simile Descriptions
The armies darken the plain like darkening wind blown seas
and the ranks sat close ranged together, bristling with shield
and helmet and spear. As when the rising west wind furs the face
of the sea and the waters grow dark beneath it, so sat the companies
of Trojans and Achaeans upon the plain. (7: 61/70)
Return to Book 7 of the Simile Descriptions
The Ajaxes clothed in valor answer Nestor's challenge to
duel with Hector
Thus did the old man rebuke them, and forthwith nine men started
to their feet. Foremost of all uprose King Agamemnon, and after
him brave Diomed the son of Tydeus. Next were the two Ajaxes,
men clothed in valour as with a garment, and then Idomeneus, and
Meriones his brother in arms. (7: 161/187)
Return to Book 7 of the Simile Descriptions
Ajax appears like the god Mars
Thus they prayed, and Ajax armed himself in his suit of gleaming
bronze. When he was in full array he sprang forward as monstrous
Mars when he takes part among men whom Jove has set fighting with
one another- even so did huge Ajax, bulwark of the Achaeans, spring
forward with a grim smile on his face as he brandished his long
spear and strode onward. (7: 206/237)
Return to Book 7 of the Simile Descriptions
Ajax bears his shield like it was a wall
Ajax came up bearing his shield in front of him like a wall- a
shield of bronze with seven folds of oxhide- the work of Tychius,
who lived in Hyle and was by far the best worker in leather. He
had made it with the hides of seven full-fed bulls, and over these
he had set an eighth layer of bronze. (7: 220/250)
Return to Book 7 of the Simile Descriptions
Hector says he is not a boy or a woman
And Hector answered, "Noble Ajax, son of Telamon, captain
of the host, treat me not as though I were some puny boy or woman
that cannot fight. I have been long used to the blood and butcheries
of battle. I am quick to turn my leathern shield either to right
or left, for this I deem the main thing in battle. I can charge
among the chariots and horsemen, and in hand to hand fighting
can delight the heart of Mars; howbeit I would not take such a
man as you are off his guard- but I will smite you openly if I
can." (7: 233/271)
Return to Book 7 of the Simile Descriptions
Hector and Ajax fight like lions or boars
They then each of them drew out the spear from his shield, and
fell on one another like savage lions or wild boars of great strength
and endurance: the son of Priam struck the middle of Ajax's shield,
but the bronze did not break, and the point of his dart was turned.
Ajax then sprang forward and pierced the shield of Hector; (7: 255/296)
Return to Book 7 of the Simile Descriptions
Poseidon complains that the fame of the Greek will reach
as far as the new day's dawn (Simile one of two)
Thus did the Achaeans toil, and the gods, seated by the side of
Jove the lord of lightning, marvelled at their great work; but
Neptune, lord of the earthquake, spoke, saying, "Father Jove,
what mortal in the whole world will again take the gods into his
counsel? See you not how the Achaeans have built a wall about
their ships and driven a trench all round it, without offering
hecatombs to the gods? The fame of this wall will reach as far
as dawn itself, and men will no longer think anything of the one
which Phoebus Apollo and myself built with so much labour for
Laomedon." (7: 442/511) //CONTINUES//
Return to Book 7 of the Simile Descriptions
Zeus tells Poseidon his fame reaches as far as the new day's
dawn (simile two of two)
Jove was displeased and answered, "What, O shaker of the
earth, are you talking about? A god less powerful than yourself
might be alarmed at what they are doing, but your fame reaches
as far as dawn itself. Surely when the Achaeans have gone home
with their ships, you can shatter their wall and fling it into
the sea; you can cover the beach with sand again, and the great
wall of the Achaeans will then be
utterly effaced." (7: 454/526)
Return to Book 7 of the Simile Descriptions
The Trojans nearly trapped like sheep in a pen
All had then been lost and no help for it, for they would have
been penned up in Ilius like sheep, had not the sire of gods and
men been quick to mark, and hurled a fiery flaming thunderbolth
which fell just in front of Diomed's horses with a flare of burning
brimstone. The horses were frightened and tried to back beneath
the car, while the reins dropped from Nestor's hands. (8: 130/149)
Return to Book 8 of the Simile Descriptions
Teucer ducks under Ajax's shield like a child to its mother
Ninth came Teucer with his bow, and took his place under cover
of the shield of Ajax son of Telamon. When Ajax lifted his shield
Teucer would peer round, and when he had hit any one in the throng,
the man would fall dead; then Teucer would hie back to Ajax as
a child to its mother, and again duck down under his shield. (8: 266/306)
Return to Book 8 of the Simile Descriptions
Wounded, Gorgythion bows his head like a rain drenched poppy
flower
As he spoke he aimed another arrow straight at Hector, for he
was bent on hitting him; nevertheless he missed him, and the arrow
hit Priam's brave son Gorgythion in the breast. His mother, fair
Castianeira, lovely as a goddess, had been married from Aesyme,
and now he bowed his head as a garden poppy in full bloom when
it is weighed down by showers in spring- even thus heavy bowed
his head beneath the weight of his helmet. (8: 300/342)
Return to Book 8 of the Simile Descriptions
Hector, like a hound gripping the flank of a lion, picks
off fleeing Greeks
Jove now again put heart into the Trojans, and they drove the
Achaeans to their deep trench with Hector in all his glory at
their head. As a hound grips a wild boar or lion in flank or buttock
when he gives him chase, and watches warily for his wheeling,
even so did Hector follow close upon the Achaeans, ever killing
the hindmost as they rushed panic-stricken onwards. (8: 335/382)
//CONTINUES//
Return to Book 8 of the Simile Descriptions
Hector's eyes glare like Gorgo or Ares
When they had fled through the set stakes and trench and many
Achaeans had been laid low at the hands of the Trojans, they halted
at their ships, calling upon one another and praying every man
instantly as they lifted up their hands to the gods; but Hector
wheeled his horses this way and that, his eyes glaring like those
of Gorgo or murderous Mars. (8: 343/391)
Return to Book 8 of the Simile Descriptions
Iris, fleet as the wind
With this Iris went her way, fleet as the wind, from the heights
of Ida to the lofty summits of Olympus. She met the goddesses
at the outer gates of its many valleys and gave them her message.
"What," said she, "are you about? Are you mad?
The son of Saturn forbids going. (8: 409/470)
Return to Book 8 of the Simile Descriptions
The Trojan watchfires are like clear shining stars
Thus high in hope they sat through the livelong night by the highways
of war, and many a watchfire did they kindle. As when the stars
shine clear, and the moon is bright- there is not a breath of
air, not a peak nor glade nor jutting headland but it stands out
in the ineffable radiance that breaks from the serene of heaven;
the stars can all of them be told and the heart of the shepherd
is glad- even thus shone the watchfires of the Trojans before
Ilius midway between the ships and the river Xanthus. A thousand
camp-fires gleamed upon the plain, and in the glow of each there
sat fifty men, while the horses, champing oats and corn beside
their chariots, waited till dawn should come. (8: 542/630)
Return to Book 8 of the Simile Descriptions
The Greek despair is like dark waves tossed by two storm
winds
Thus did the Trojans watch. But Panic, comrade of blood-stained
Rout, had taken fast hold of the Achaeans and their princes were
all of them in despair. As when the two winds that blow from Thrace-
the north and the northwest- spring up of a sudden and rouse the
fury of the main- in a moment the dark waves uprear their heads
and scatter their sea-wrack in all directions- even thus troubled
were the hearts of the Achaeans. (9: 1/1)
Return to Book 9 of the Simile Descriptions
Agamemnon's tears like a stream running over the side of
a cliff
The son of Atreus in dismay bade the heralds call the people to
a council man by man, but not to cry the matter aloud; he made
haste also himself to call them, and they sat sorry at heart in
their assembly. Agamemnon shed tears as it were a running stream
or cataract on the side of some sheer cliff; and thus, with many
a heavy sigh he spoke to the Achaeans. (9: 9/9)
Return to Book 9 of the Simile Descriptions
Hector like a maniac man gone mad
Jove, moreover, has sent his lightnings on their right; Hector,
in all his glory, rages like a maniac; confident that Jove is
with him he fears neither god nor man, but is gone raving mad,
and prays for the approach of day. (9: 236/285)
Return to Book 9 of the Simile Descriptions
Achilles like a starving mother-bird feeding her greedy
nestlings
I have taken nothing by all my hardships- with my life ever in
my hand; as a bird when she has found a morsel takes it to her
nestlings, and herself fares hardly, even so man a long night
have I been wakeful, and many a bloody battle have I waged by
day against those who were fighting for their women. With my ships
I have taken twelve cities, and eleven round about Troy have I
stormed with my men by land; I took great store of wealth from
every one of them, but I gave all up to Agamemnon son of Atreus.
He stayed where he was by his ships, yet of what came to him he
gave little, and kept much himself. (9: 321/390)
Return to Book 9 of the Simile Descriptions
Achilles spurns the offered gifts as so much sand or dust
He may offer me ten or even twenty times what he has now done,
nay- not though it be all that he has in the world, both now or
ever shall have; he may promise me the wealth of Orchomenus or
of Egyptian Thebes, which is the richest city in the whole world,
for it has a hundred gates through each of which two hundred men
may drive at once with their chariots and horses; he may offer
me gifts as the sands of the sea or the dust of the plain in multitude,
but even so he shall not move me till I have been revenged in
full for the bitter wrong he has done me. (9: 379/464)
Return to Book 9 of the Simile Descriptions
Prayers personified as the daughters of Zeus
For prayers are as daughters to great Jove; halt, wrinkled, with
eyes askance, they follow in the footsteps of sin, who, being
fierce and fleet of foot, leaves them far behind him, and ever
baneful to mankind outstrips them even to the ends of the world;
but nevertheless the prayers come hobbling and healing after.
If a man has pity upon these daughters of Jove when they draw
near him, they will bless him and hear him too when he is praying;
but if he deny them and will not listen to them, they go to Jove
the son of Saturn and pray that he may presently fall into sin-
to his ruing bitterly hereafter. Therefore, Achilles, give these
daughters of Jove due reverence, and bow before them as all good
men will bow. (9: 502/609)
Return to Book 9 of the Simile Descriptions
Achilles treated like a tramp or vagrant
"Ajax," replied Achilles, "noble son of Telamon,
you have spoken much to my liking, but my blood boils when I think
it all over, and remember how the son of Atreus treated me with
contumely as though I were some vile tramp, and that too in the
presence of the Argives. (9: 644/786)
Return to Book 9 of the Simile Descriptions
Agamemnon frets like storms and lightning sent by Zeus as
omens of disaster
Now the other princes of the Achaeans slept soundly the whole
night through, but Agamemnon son of Atreus was troubled, so that
he could get no rest. As when fair Juno's lord flashes his lightning
in token of great rain or hail or snow when the snow-flakes whiten
the ground, or again as a sign that he will open the wide jaws
of hungry war, even so did Agamemnon heave many a heavy sigh,
for his soul trembled within him. (10: 1/1)
Return to Book 10 of the Simile Descriptions
Bronze weapons flash like lightning
On this Ulysses went at once into his tent, put his shield about
his shoulders and came out with them. First they went to Diomed
son of Tydeus, and found him outside his tent clad in his armour
with his comrades sleeping round him and using their shields as
pillows; as for their spears, they stood upright on the spikes
of their butts that were driven into the ground, and the burnished
bronze flashed afar like the lightning of father Jove. (10: 148/173)
Return to Book 10 of the Simile Descriptions
Nestor rouses Diomedes warning him that they are on the
edge of a razor
And Nestor knight of Gerene made answer, "My son, all that
you have said is true. I have good sons, and also much people
who might call the chieftains, but the Achaeans are in the gravest
danger; life and death are balanced as it were on the edge of
a razor. Go then, for you are younger than I, and of your courtesy
rouse Ajax and the fleet son of Phyleus." (10: 162/190)
Return to Book 10 of the Simile Descriptions
The Greek sentries are as watchful as sheep dogs or hounds
Diomed threw the skin of a great tawny lion about his shoulders-
a skin that reached his feet- and grasped his spear. When he had
roused the heroes, he brought them back with him; they then went
the round of those who were on guard, and found the captains not
sleeping at their posts but wakeful and sitting with their arms
about them. As sheep dogs that watch their flocks when they are
yarded, and hear a wild beast coming through the mountain forest
towards them- forthwith there is a hue and cry of dogs and men,
and slumber is broken- even so was sleep chased from the eyes
of the Achaeans as they kept the watches of the wicked night,
for they turned constantly towards the plain whenever they heard
any stir among the Trojans. The old man was glad bade them be
of good cheer. "Watch on, my children," said he, "and
let not sleep get hold upon you, lest our enemies triumph over
us." (10: 177/208)
Return to Book 10 of the Simile Descriptions
Diomedes and Odysseus prowl the battlefield like two lions
Thus they prayed, and Pallas Minerva heard their prayer. When
they had done praying to the daughter of great Jove, they went
their way like two lions prowling by night amid the armour and
blood-stained bodies of them that had fallen. (10: 295/346)
Return to Book 10 of the Simile Descriptions
Diomedes and Odysseus chase Dolon, a Trojan spy, like hounds
after a doe or hare
With this they turned out of their way and lay down among the
corpses. Dolon suspected nothing and soon passed them, but when
he had got about as far as the distance by which a mule-plowed
furrow exceeds one that has been ploughed by oxen (for mules can
plow fallow land quicker than oxen) they ran after him, and when
he heard their footsteps he stood still, for he made sure they
were friends from the Trojan camp come by Hector's orders to bid
him return; when, however, they were only a spear's cast, or less
away form him, he saw that they were enemies and fled as fast
as his legs could take him. The others gave chase at once, and
as a couple of well-trained hounds press forward after a doe or
hare that runs screaming in front of them, even so did the son
of Tydeus and Ulysses pursue Dolon and cut him off from his own
people. (10: 349/407)
Return to Book 10 of the Simile Descriptions
Diomedes kills the sleeping Thracians like a lion on unprotected
sheep or goats
Thereon Minerva put courage into the heart of Diomed, and he smote
them right and left. They made a hideous groaning as they were
being hacked about, and the earth was red with their blood. As
a lion springs furiously upon a flock of sheep or goats when he
finds without their shepherd, so did the son of Tydeus set upon
the Thracian soldiers till he had killed twelve. (10: 482/557)
Return to Book 10 of the Simile Descriptions
Diomedes and Odysseus return with the spoils that are like
sunbeams
He had hardly done speaking when the two men came in and dismounted,
whereon the others shook hands right gladly with them and congratulated
them. Nestor knight of Gerene was first to question them. "Tell
me," said he, "renowned Ulysses, how did you two come
by these horses? Did you steal in among the Trojan forces, or
did some god meet you and give them to you? They are like sunbeams.
I am well conversant with the Trojans, for old warrior though
I am I never hold back by the ships, but I never yet saw or heard
of such horses as these are. Surely some god must have met you
and given them to you, for you are both of dear to Jove, and to
Jove's daughter Minerva." (10: 540/623)
Return to Book 10 of the Simile Descriptions
The serpents of cyanus on Agamemnon's breastplate are like
rainbows after a storm
The son of Atreus shouted aloud and bade the Argives gird themselves
for battle while he put on his armour. First he girded his goodly
greaves about his legs, making them fast with ankle clasps of
silver; and about his chest he set the breastplate which Cinyras
had once given him as a guest-gift. It had been noised abroad
as far as Cyprus that the Achaeans were about to sail for Troy,
and therefore he gave it to the king. It had ten courses of dark
cyanus, twelve of gold, and ten of tin. There were serpents of
cyanus that reared themselves up towards the neck, three upon
either side, like the rainbows which the son of Saturn has set
in heaven as a sign to mortal men. (11: 15/17)
Return to Book 11 of the Simile Descriptions
Agamemnon's armor shines like a flame
On his head Agamemnon set a helmet, with a peak before and behind,
and four plumes of horse-hair that nodded menacingly above it;
then he grasped two redoubtable bronze-shod spears, and the gleam
of his armour shot from him as a flame into the firmament, while
Juno and Minerva thundered in honour of the king of rich Mycene.
(11: 40/45)
Return to Book 11 of the Simile Descriptions
The shield of Hector shines like a baneful star amidst clouds
The Trojans, on the other side upon the rising slope of the plain,
were gathered round great Hector, noble Polydamas, Aeneas who
was honoured by the Trojans like an immortal, and the three sons
of Antenor, Polybus, Agenor, and young Acamas beauteous as a god.
Hector's round shield showed in the front rank, and as some baneful
star that shines for a moment through a rent in the clouds and
is again hidden beneath them; even so was Hector now seen in the
front ranks and now again in the hindermost, and his bronze armour
gleamed like the lightning of aegis-bearing Jove. (11: 56/64)
Return to Book 11 of the Simile Descriptions
The Greeks and Trojans cut one another down like grain reapers
cutting wheat or barley; like fighting wolves
And now as a band of reapers mow swathes of wheat or barley upon
a rich man's land, and the sheaves fall thick before them, even
so did the Trojans and Achaeans fall upon one another; they were
in no mood for yielding but fought like wolves, and neither side
got the better of the other. (11: 67/76)
Return to Book 11 of the Simile Descriptions
Description of a woodman ready for lunch
Now so long as the day waxed and it was still morning, their darts
rained thick on one another and the people perished, but as the
hour drew nigh when a woodman working in some mountain forest
will get his midday meal- for he has felled till his hands are
weary; he is tired out, and must now have food- then the Danaans
with a cry that rang through all their ranks, broke the battalions
of the enemy. (11: 84/97)
Return to Book 11 of the Simile Descriptions
Agamemnon kills Isus and Antiphus like the fawns of a helpless
hind
Agamemnon son of Atreus smote Isus in the chest above the nipple
with his spear, while he struck Antiphus hard by the ear and threw
him from his chariot. Forthwith he stripped their goodly armour
from off them and recognized them, for he had already seen them
at ships when Achilles brought them in from Ida. As a lion fastens
on the fawns of a hind and crushes them in his great jaws, robbing
them of their tender life while he on his way back to his lair-
the hind can do nothing for them even though she be close by,
for she is in an agony of fear, and flies through the thick forest,
sweating, and at her utmost speed before the mighty monster- so,
no man of the Trojans could help Isus and Antiphus, for they were
themselves flying panic before the Argives. (11: 107/124)
Return to Book 11 of the Simile Descriptions
Agamemnon confronts the sons of Antimachus- Peisander and
Hipplochus like a lion
Then King Agamemnon took the two sons of Antimachus, Pisander
and brave Hippolochus. It was Antimachus who had been foremost
in preventing Helen's being restored to Menelaus, for he was largely
bribed by Alexandrus; and now Agamemnon took his two sons, both
in the same chariot, trying to bring their horses to a stand-
for they had lost hold of the reins and the horses were mad with
fear. The son of Atreus sprang upon them like a lion, and the
pair besought him from their chariot. (11: 122/143)
Return to Book 11 of the Simile Descriptions
Agamemnon rolls the head of Hippolochus towards the Trojans
like a ball
As he spoke he felled Pisander from his chariot to the earth,
smiting him on the chest with his spear, so that he lay face uppermost
upon the ground. Hippolochus fled, but him too did Agamemnon smite;
he cut off his hands and his head- which he sent rolling in among
the crowd as though it were a ball. (11: 147/166)
Return to Book 11 of the Simile Descriptions
The Greeks rout the Trojans like a raging forest fire
Foot soldiers drove the foot soldiers of the foe in rout before
them, and slew them; horsemen did the like by horsemen, and the
thundering tramp of the horses raised a cloud of dust from off
the plain. King Agamemnon followed after, ever slaying them and
c