Figurative Language In The Iliad

The Iliad Paper
"Polonius, ‘What do you read my Lord?' Hamlet, ‘Words, words, words.'" -Shakespeare, Hamlet, II, ii, 193-4. Reading, writing, speaking, these are the things that define our humanity. Without words or the ability of speech we would once again be equal to the animals we preside over. In the scheme of time we have perfected this human ability above all else; we teach it, correct it, and embellish it to no end. Even so stories may be told in many different ways, simply by altering the way we write. The Iliad is written as an original epic written in Greek, by Homer, which has been translated many times over by English novelists so that we too can enjoy this riveting tale of Achilles' rage. Though translating the book is
trouble enough as it is, some authors go to the trouble of implementing a rhyme scheme too. The story is changed not only for the writers' pride and sense of self accomplishment, but to help us readers to fully understand what Homer is saying, because none of us could really understand Greek, as close to his thoughts as possible. The two translations analyzed here are The Changes in poetic form, diction, and flow of these two versions make a world of difference when reading these texts, and the beauty of the shows greatly. In the two versions compared here the first is written in prose, a non-rhyming paragraph style, and the second in a poetic epic form.
The first selection of the two is a novel, written out in paragraphs as to give the reader an easy read through of battles, ill-tempered old men, and seemingly unimportant women. Therein lies our problem, The Iliad is not a short story, it is not a quick read to which anyone could simply just put away when finished, this is a work of art. Admittedly it is hard to read about so many deaths in the same way over and over again, and see the same pain, the same agony and despair, without the distraction of pretty words, in a plain novel. Putting this intense story in prose doesn't nearly do it the justice it deserves. Although this tale is interesting enough, being put into epic form seems to put everything in its place. Reading The Iliad as an epic poem brings life to the dull moments, brings life to the empty pages and fills them with words that can amuse, distract, even
bewilder. The way an author chooses to write is also affected by their vocabulary, which brings us to diction.
Diction is defined as an author's choice of words to fit their context, also a spoken clarity in which words are easily understood. In our two versions of The Iliad the first has poetic impulse that when the words are spoken, it is given a beautiful sound and rhyme. This diction also works as word choice, and seeing as the epic version is meant to have a certain higher quality of vocabulary that must flow and proceed in a superior manner, the words chosen are, in short, better. The prose version is written entirely so the point is brought across and told. The plain writing and lack of rhyme scheme give diction in the sense that it is easy to understand, there is no extra wording to get around, and the story is told up right. The quality of words is brought down a bit and the story is given beginning to end as a plain
novel. Having good clarity and an easy to understand plot helps the reader to have an enjoyable experience while reading any book. In The Iliad the epic version is written so the reader is presented with an intriguing story, that is easy to read, easily understood and fun because of its rhyme. The prose version is also easily understandable, yet very straight forward. Certainly it is hard to read about the way people die over and over again with out the slight distraction of rhyme or confusing words, but we are presented with a quick way of reading of the death in a few sentences rather than a paragraph devoted to one's death. This way of giving rapid sequences on a part in the story that is particularly gruesome allows the reader to get an idea of what is happening and be done with it. In comparison to the poetic epic this is an easy read physically, but for the grisly moments of war, it can be mentally hard to handle. In all The Iliad is an breathtaking tale about the rage of Achilles, in which war and peace are resolved in the end. Reading this book in epic poem and in prose gives us different views, and gives insight to pieces of the book that in one version may have been unimportant, but in another is truly significant. The differences in poetic form, diction, and flow are detrimental to our understanding of the book and how we are affected by it. And though Hamlet says "Words, words, words," are all we read, these words are invariably different yet they tell the same story, which was written so long ago.