Similes In The Iliad Book 6

In “The Iliad Book Six,” Homer utilizes an epic simile about a horse to describe how Paris emerged from “the high rock of Pergamum.” The simile reads:

Picture a horse that has fed on barley in his stall

Breaking his halter and galloping across the plain,

Making for his accustomed swim in the river,

A glorious animal, head held high, mane streaming

Like wind on his shoulders. Sure of his splendor

He prances by the horse-runs and the mares in pasture.

This simile paints a picture of a horse with his head held high gracefully running free by the other mares as if he is superior to them because in some respects, he is. That was tied into the story with the following lines:

That was how Paris, son of Priam, came down

From the high rock of

Pergamum,
Gleaming like amber and laughing in his armor,
And his feet were fast.
Homer was comparing the stunning, majestic, and elegant animal to Paris to show that Paris was admirable for his appearance and carried himself in a godlike manner.

The detail about the horse being fed barley was to show that the horse was beloved and pampered just as Paris was. Additionally, the horse’s stall is similar to Paris’s high halls. Both the horse and Paris are well taken care of. Also, the word “stall” could also mean that Paris was stalling to fight by examining his weapons and sitting inside his house. Earlier in the text, Hector enters the city’s high rock to find Paris “fondling his curved bow, his fine shield, and breastplate.” When Hector tries to shame him, Paris claims “I only wanted to recover from my pain.” This shows that he was stalling to go back out to the battleground and fight for Helen even though the rest of the Trojans were fighting the war for him. Furthermore, “Breaking his halter and galloping across the plain, making for his accustomed swim in the river” describes “how Paris, son of Priam, came down from the high rock of Pergamum.” According to the simile, Paris broke free of the high halls where he spends most of his time cooped up and rushed through the city while making his way through the river of troops who he thought envied him. However, he also broke out of his comfort zone to

experience a flood of new emotions just as the horse broke out of his halter.

Additionally, Homer used the words “came down” in the literal description to paint a picture of Paris descending to the level of the common folk fighting the war instead of being pampered in his house as well as physically going down from the high rock to the city. To describe the literal moment “Gleaming like amber, and laughing in his armor,” Homer uses the lines from the simile that state, “A glorious animal, head held high, mane streaming like wind on his shoulders. Sure of his splendor.” Homer emphasized the confidence of the horse as it relates to Paris through the phrase “head held high.” It stands out because it is alliteration that Homer used to draw the reader's attention to how sure of himself Paris was and even implying overconfidence or hubris. Paris was “sure of his splendor” even though he was not a good fighter and was bound to lose. Finally, the line, “He prances by the horse-runs and the mares in pasture” goes hand in hand with “And his feet were fast” from the literal description. The word “prances” in the simile is associated with a graceful, poised trot. “And his

feet were fast” also gives off the sense that Paris was composed and agile as he ran to catch up with Hector. The reader would have interpreted a different situation if Homer had used language such as “He rips past the horse-runs and mares in the pasture” and “And his feet were flying as he struggled to catch up to Hector.” The language Homer used has a gentler connotation to describe the way in which Paris proceeds from his home to find Hector and join in the battle. In turn, the mood is lightened since there is no terror or sense of urgency coming from Paris. The simile reinforced Paris’s cocky attitude as he made his way to danger and used language in a way to make specific words stand out. Moreover, the simile lets the reader know how collected and graceful Paris was while the literal description does not add much detail about that. When tied with the epic simile, the literal description becomes a powerful tool that aids the reader in clearly understanding the message Homer is trying to relay.