Tuesday, October 27, 2015

What are some examples of figurative language in the Odyssey?

One type of figurative language that is used often in The Odyssey is personification. Personification is when animate or human-like qualities are given to an inanimate object or concept. For example, saying "the flowers danced in the wind" is personification. The flowers are being personified: they are not actually dancing, but their movement is being likened to dancing.


In The Odyssey, we can see multiple examples of personification. Dawn is frequently personified throughout the...

One type of figurative language that is used often in The Odyssey is personification. Personification is when animate or human-like qualities are given to an inanimate object or concept. For example, saying "the flowers danced in the wind" is personification. The flowers are being personified: they are not actually dancing, but their movement is being likened to dancing.


In The Odyssey, we can see multiple examples of personification. Dawn is frequently personified throughout the epic. Here is one such example:



"As soon as rose-fingered early Dawn appeared..."



Of course, dawn, the break of day, does not actually have fingers, but Dawn is often described as having fingers, which is a human-like quality.


Another example of personification comes in Book IX:



"...we saw a cavern yawning above the water..."



The cavern is not actually yawning, as a human does, but the opening of the cavern is more vibrantly described by personifying it with the verb "yawn."


There are certainly more examples of personification that can be found throughout the Odyssey, as Homer employed it often, but here are just two examples.


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