Character, Narrator, and Simile in the Iliad

by Jonathan L. Ready

• ISBN13: 9780521190640
• ISBN10: 0521190649
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-04-11
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Jonathan L. Ready offers the first comprehensive examination of Homer's similes in the Iliad as arenas of heroic competition. This study concentrates primarily on similes spoken by Homeric characters. The first to offer a sustained exploration of such similes, Ready shows how characters are made to contest through and over simile not only with one another but also with the narrator. Ready investigates the narrator's similes as well. He demonstrates that Homer amplifies the feat of a successful warrior by providing a competitive orientation to sequences of similes used to describe battles. He also offers a new interpretation of Homer's extended similes as a means for the poet to imagine his characters as competitors for his attention. Throughout this study, Ready makes innovative use of approaches from both Homeric studies and narratology that have not yet been applied to the analysis of Homer's similes.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The simile and the Homeric comparative spectrum

Similes and likenesses in the character-text

A preparation for reading sequences of similes

Sequences of similes in the character-text

Narrator, character, and simile

Similes in the narrator-text

Conclusion: The Odyssey compared

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