Foreshadowing In The Odyssey

Since the birth of prose, various literary techniques such as tone, imagery, similes, and foreshadowing have been used by authors to engender specific impressions upon their audience. Like an artist's pallet of paint, authors color their words with vibrancy through the use of these literary tools. In the Greek work the Iliad, Homer skillfully utilizes similes and foreshadowing in an innovative way. Rather than approaching them as separate entities, he notably combines them by foreshadowing in the form of a simile about what will come to pass. Though the fall of Troy may not be told directly in the Iliad, numerous comparisons are drawn between the element of fire and Ilion, alluding to its anticipated and foreseen demise. Through critical analysis of three specific epic similes, it is apparent that the functions which Homer's similes serve not only surpass extravagant imagery, but also heighten anticipation about an expected occurrence and expand the descriptive power of each scene in which they appear. As
Shortly afterwards, Achilles hauls the dead Trojan to the Greek camp, his head dragging in the dust. When news of Hektor's demise reaches Troy, Homer compares the catastrophe to the burning of the city itself: "So all his head was dragged in the dust… and all his people about him were taken with wailing and lamentation all through the city/It was most like what would have happened if all lowering Ilion had been burning top to bottom in fire (22.405-411)." This simile is even more powerful than the previous ones. Where the previous ones either compared the Trojan's defeat or strength to fire, this one essentially invokes a sense of a blazing Troy. This is a more direct and forthright epic simile since it explores a possible occurrence, causing the reader to entertain the likelihood that the plummet of Troy may actually