Similes In The Odyssey

In book 9, lines 388-393 of his Odyssey, Homer offers the following simile: The blood boiled around the hot point, so that the blast and the scorch of the burning ball singed all his eyebrows and eyelids, and the fire made the roots of his eye crackle.

As a man who works as a blacksmith plunges a screaming great ax blade or plane into cold water, treating it for temper, since this is the way steel is made strong.

In this paper, I will argue that although the surface meaning of this passage is that the sound of the cyclops sizzling eye is the same as the sound of a blacksmith plunging a great ax blade into cold water to make the steel of it strong, the deeper meaning of the passage is that Odysseus has a blind need for glory

As Odysseus looks back on what happened, he verbalizes that he made a mistake and openly admits to why he made it, he made the mistake because he was distracted by his need to be praised. Odysseus’ craving for glory is so known that even those who are close to him have noticed it and expressed that it causes him to make reckless decisions. Such as, when Odysseus and his men land on Circe’s island, Odysseus convinces his crew to explore the island where they encounter Circe, who lures the men into her home and turns them into pigs. Eurylochos, a man who is a member of Odysseus’s crew, speaks out against Odysseus and tries to convince the rest of the crew of Odysseus’ recklessness. Eurylochos said

Ah, poor wretches. Where are we going? Why do you long for

The evils of going down into Circe’s palace, for she will transform the lot of us into pigs or wolves or lions, and so we shall guard her great house for her, under compulsion.

So too it happened with the Cyclops, when our companions went into his yard, and the bold Odysseus was of their company; for it was by this man’s recklessness that these too