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Hyperbole
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
Chapter 7
Explanation and Analysis—By Scent Alone:
Over the course of Chapter 7, Patroclus becomes gradually more attuned to Achilles, experiencing the early stages of adolescent attraction. In the following example of sensory imagery, Patroclus's hyper-awareness of Achilles becomes evident:
I can smell him. The oils that he uses on his feet, pomegranate and sandalwood; the salt of clean sweat; the hyacinths we had walked through, their scent crushed against our ankles. Beneath it all is his own smell, the one I go to sleep with, the one I wake up to. I cannot describe it. It is sweet, but not just. It is strong but not too strong. Something like almond, but that still is not right. Sometimes, after we have wrestled, my own skin smells like it.
Patroclus describes his senses' reaction to Achilles's presence, using an uncommon amount of detail to characterize the other boy's scent. This specific description demonstrates just how attuned Patroclus is to Achilles's presence, picking up on sensory details that no other person would pay attention to.
Patroclus begins to recognize his attraction to Achilles slowly. At first, he thinks the pull he feels towards the other boy is envy or pure admiration—the desperate wish for Achilles's friendship and approval. Only when Patroclus starts to sensually attune himself to Achilles does the romantic nature of their bond manifest.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Flowering Desire:
In an example of sensory imagery from Chapter 7, Patroclus describes the first kiss he shares with Achilles:
They are like the fat bodies of bees, soft and round and giddy with pollen. I can taste his mouth—hot and sweet with honey from dessert. My stomach trembles, and a warm drop of pleasure spreads beneath my skin. More. The strength of my desire, the speed with which it flowers, shocks me.
Patroclus compares Achilles's lips to "the fat bodies of bees" that are "giddy with pollen," tasting honey in Achilles's mouth. Patroclus's own desire then "flowers," "pollinated" by Achilles. Notably, when the two boys later share their first sexual encounter, Patroclus uses the language of ripe fruit as sensory imagery. The stages of the boys' progressing intimacy maps neatly onto plant development: pollination, flowering, fertilization, fruit.
A darker interpretation of this progression would move further, beyond ripening to rot. Inevitably, overripe fruit that goes uneaten will fall to the ground, dissolving back into the earth from which it came. Achilles and Patroclus ripen like fruit in their intimacy. However, they are predestined for rot: both have their death foretold, and the war that kills them also erodes a once youthful, hopeful love into something more haggard and sorrowful.
Related Themes:
Chapter 10
Explanation and Analysis—Ripe Like Figs:
In Chapter 10, Achilles and Patroclus realize that Thetis cannot "see" them on Mount Pelion. Emboldened by this epiphany, the two finally give in to their yearning for intimacy and connection. Patroclus uses sensory imagery to narrate their sexual encounter:
I was trembling, afraid to put him to flight. I did not know what to do, what he would like. I kissed his neck, the span of his chest, and tasted the salt. He seemed to swell beneath my touch, to ripen. He smelled like almonds and earth. He pressed against me, crushing my lips to wine.
Note the imagery of ripe fruit in this passage, correlated with intimacy, sexuality, and the bloom of youth. Achilles "swell[s]" and "ripen[s]" under Patroclus's touch. Achilles "presses" against Patroclus like one attempting to make grapes into wine. This language parallels that used earlier in the chapter, when Patroclus describes the figs he picks for Achilles's birthday:
The figs hung rich and heavy on the tree, their curved flesh pliant to my touch—two days later and they would be too ripe. I gathered them in a carved-wood bowl and bore them carefully back to the cave.
As the two boys experience sexual and romantic intimacy for the first time, they "bloom" like ripe fruit under one another's touch. Fruit metaphors are common signifiers of sexuality—pomegranates, figs, cherries. It is appropriate that Patroclus would use such imagery to describe his first foray into sex.
Related Themes:
