epic simile
Extended literary comparison
An epic simile is an extended comparison in poetry that elaborates far beyond the initial point of likeness, often spanning several lines.
Where a simple simile might say a warrior fought like a lion, an epic simile describes the lion stalking prey, its hunger, the terrain—creating a miniature scene within the larger narrative.
The device is characteristic of Homer and Milton: His shield glowed like the harvest moon rising over the hills where farmers...
Also called a Homeric simile.
- HomerAncient Greek epic composer
- MiltonBaroque English verse master
- oral traditionCulture passed by speech
- invocationCalling upon higher authority
- elaborationDevelopment through detail
Virgil · descriptive detail · vivid imagery · Iliad · extended metaphor · Greek mythology · in medias res · Odyssey · ancient Greece · vividness · narrative depth · amplification · narrative technique · poetic device · Aeneid · Trojan War · Paradise Lost · heroic couplet