Question

Read the excerpt from The Odyssey.

In a smithy

one sees a white-hot axehead or an adze
plunged and wrung in a cold tub, screeching steam–
the way they make soft iron hale and hard—:
just so that eyeball hissed around the spike.


The use of the epic simile in this excerpt helps the reader understand

A) that the Cyclops only has one eye.
B) how brutal Odysseus and his men are.
C) the size of the wooden spear.
D) how hot the spear actually is.

Answer 1

There are many epic similes used in Odysseus. Epic simile or Homeric simile means elaborate comparison of the events which is uncovered later. In these lines Homer describes making of spear - how it is made and how it is hot that when spear is made its warmth could affect the eyes.

Answer 2

The answer is D: how hot the spear actually is.

An epic simile, or Homeric simile, is a rhetorical figure that compares, in a relatively lengthy manner, a strange or unfamiliar occurrence with a familiar event or thing. It is usually presented during moments of turmoil and it helps the reader reflect calmly on the scene being depicted.

In the excerpt above, the comparison is made between the blinding of the Cyclops with a hot spike, and how an iron spear is made by first making it hot and they quickly cooling it in order to mold it properly, just like the hot spear used by Odysseus cooled off as it entered the Cyclops eye.