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Definition of Metaphor
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor can be stated explicitly, as... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other. The comparison in a metaphor... read full definition
A metaphor is a figure of speech that compares two different things by saying that one thing is the other... read full definition
Book 22
Explanation and Analysis—Necks in the Noose:
The poem uses a metaphor that compares the suitors gathered in the home of Odysseus to men who have nooses around their necks. When Odysseus begins his assault on the suitors by shooting an arrow through the neck of Antinous, the other suitors respond with panic and denial:
They wheeled on Odysseus, lashing out in fury:
“Stranger, shooting at men will cost your life!”
“Your game is over—you, you’ve shot your last!”
“You’ll never escape your own headlong death!”
“You killed the best in Ithaca —our fine prince!”
“Vultures will eat your corpse!”
Groping, frantic —
each one persuading himself the guest had killed
the man by chance. Poor fools, blind to the fact
that all their necks were in the noose, their doom sealed.
The suitors are shocked to see that the disguised Odysseus, whom they had dismissed as a mere beggar, has killed Antinous, who serves as a leader for the group. Though they can perceive Odysseus's power and have begun to sense their doom, they respond with denial, "each one persuading himself" that the killing of Antinous was a mere fluke and refusing to accept their fates. "Groping, frantic," they hurl insults and invectives at Odysseus. Here, the poem treats them with mocking condescension, describing them as "poor fools" who do not yet realize that "their necks were in the noose." This metaphor emphasizes the inevitability of their fate. At this point, there is nothing that they can do to save themselves, as Athena has already decided upon their deaths.
Related Themes:
Book 23
Explanation and Analysis—Heart of Iron:
In a passage containing several similes and metaphors, the poem describes Odysseus's dissatisfaction with his frosty and suspicious reception by his wife Penelope upon returning to Ithaca:
He stepped from his bath, glistening like a god,
and back he went to the seat that he had left
and facing his wife, declared,
“Strange woman! So hard—the gods of Olympus
made you harder than any other woman in the world!
What other wife could have a spirit so unbending?
Holding back from her husband, home at last for her
after bearing twenty years of brutal struggle.
Come, nurse, make me a bed, I’ll sleep alone.
She has a heart of iron in her breast.”
After bathing and abandoning his disguise, Odysseus appears powerful and majestic, "glistening like a god" as a result of Athena's magic. This simile underscores the full support he receives from his divine patron and his status as a hero who exceeds the strength and accomplishments of other mortals. Penelope, however, continues to view him with suspicion, as she is weary of fraud and deceit. Here, Odysseus uses a series of metaphors that characterize Penelope as being composed of hard and inflexible material, suggesting that she has not yet accepted his identity. Penelope, he claims, is "harder than any other woman in the world," with an "unbending" spirit and a "heart of iron." These various metaphors underscore her skepticism but also her virtue, as she refuses to be tricked or seduced.
Related Themes:
