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Definition of Imagery
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After Apple-Picking" contain imagery that engages... read full definition
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines from Robert Frost's poem "After... read full definition
Imagery, in any sort of writing, refers to descriptive language that engages the human senses. For instance, the following lines... read full definition
Imagery
Explanation and Analysis—Achilles's Shield:
Homer's detailed description of the shield that Hephaestus forges for Achilles in Book 18 is one of the most famous examples of ekphrasis in the Western literary tradition. Ekphrasis is a kind of imagery, in which a work of art is verbally described in detail. In his ekphrastic presentation of the shield, Homer both goes in detail about how Hephaestus makes it and how it looks in its complete form.
Before Book 18, Homer makes several mentions of Hephaestus’s craftsmanship. Regardless of whether the reader is familiar with Hephaestus's characterization in Greek mythology, Homer makes it clear that this "Master Craftsman," "famous Smith," and "god of fire" is very skillful. At the end of Book 1, for example, Homer mentions that he made all of the immortals' houses. He elaborates on this in Book 14 when he describes Hera's bedroom, which is "locked with a secret bolt no other god could draw." Homer also mentions that Hephaestus forged Agamemnon's scepter and Diomedes's armor.
Homer's ekphrastic description of the shield Hephaestus forges for Achilles in Book 18 is very long and detailed. After he describes the strong metal base, he unleashes a long description of the "world of gorgeous immortal work" that Hephaestus decorates the shield with. This world encompasses everything from the cosmos, the earth's many landscapes, and everyday details of human experience. While some of the details evoke scenes of creativity and enterprise, some of them evoke scenes of conflict and destruction. Through this, Homer comments on the duality of human life.
Book 16
Explanation and Analysis—Patroclus and the Sea:
In Book 16, during Patroclus's rampage, Homer details many of his clashes and kills. In one of these scenes, he uses imagery and a simile to liken Patroclus to a fisherman. In another, he uses another sea-related metaphor to describe the movements of one of Patroclus's victims.
Towards the middle of the book, Homer describes Patroclus pulling the Trojan warrior Thestor out of his chariot as though he were pulling a fish out of the sea:
Patroclus rising beside him stabbed his right jawbone,
ramming the spearhead square between his teeth so hard
he hooked him by that spearhead over the chariot-rail,
hoisted, dragged the Trojan out as an angler perched
on a jutting rock ledge drags some fish from the sea,
some noble catch, with line and glittering bronze hook.
So with the spear Patroclus gaffed him off his car,
his mouth gaping round the glittering point
and flipped him down facefirst,
dead as he fell, his life breath blown away.
In this extended simile, Homer compares Thestor to a gaping fish on a hook and Patroclus to a fisherman delighted by his catch. Before Thestor is dead, the simile has already taken away his humanity. Additionally, the simile gives insight into the duality of war, as it highlights both Thestor's fear and Patroclus's adeptness and thrill. While war on the one hand gives warriors something to excel at, it also brings degradation and suffering.
Later in Book 16, Patroclus mocks one of his victims with a fishing metaphor as he falls from his chariot:
Look what a springy man, a nimble, flashy tumbler!
Just think what he’d do at sea where the fish swarm—
why, the man could glut a fleet, diving for oysters!
Plunging overboard, even in choppy, heaving seas,
just as he dives to ground from his war-car now.
In this scene, Patroclus has just killed Hector's driver Cebriones by smashing his face in with a jagged stone. This makes Cebriones fall from the chariot "like a diver." Having already degraded his victim with this violent death, Patroclus further degrades him by delightedly mocking him for his fall with the oyster-diver metaphor. Dwelling on this dishonorable behavior, Homer addresses Patroclus in the second-person: "and you taunted his corpse, Patroclus O my rider." In this moment, Homer seems to suggest that Patroclus has gone too far with his disrespect for the dead.
Related Themes:
