Odyssey Literary Devices

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The Odyssey Literary Devices
TONE – the author’s attitude towards his subject
“Calypso” p. 1209 poignant, but accepting
EPITHETS – nicknames
p. 1204 Odysseus: “man skilled in all ways of contending”, 1209 “son of Laertes”,
“strategist”
p. 1206 Hermes: “the Wayfinder”
p. 1213 Dawn: “with fingertips of rose”
p. 1223 Zeus: “Cronus’ son”
p. 1223 Odysseus: “raider of cities”, 1223 “Laertes’ son”, p. 1246 “noble and
enduring man”
p. 1223 Poseidon: “blue girdler of the islands”, 1216 “who sets the earth a-tremble”
p. 1223 Circe: “loveliest of goddesses”, 1210 “enchantress”
p. 1228 Odysseus: “master of landways and seaways”
p. 1232 Charybdis: “dire gorge of the salt sea tide”
p. 1233-1234 Helios: “the Lord of Noon”, “the Overlord of Noon”
p. 1226 Persephone: “pale Persephone”
p. 1224 Aeolus: “the wind king”
p. 1232 Amphitrite: “thundering Amphitrite”
p. 1224 Telemachus: “light of my days, Telemachus”
EPIC (HOMERIC) SIMILES – a comparison using like or as
p. 1219 lines 299-304 “In a smithy/ one sees a white-hot axhead or an adze
plunged and wrung in a cold tub, screeching steam---
the way they make soft iron hale and hard---
just so that eyeball hissed around the spike”
p. 1236 lines 193-198 “A man surf-casting on a point of rock

for bass or mackerel, whipping his long rod
to drop the sinker and the bait far out,
will hook a fish and rip it from the surface
to dangle wriggling through the air;
so these
were borne aloft in spasms toward the cliff.”
p. 1244 lines 19-24 “Think of a man whose dear and only son,
born to him in exile, reared with labor,
has lived ten years abroad and now returns:
how would that man embrace his son!”
Just so
the herdsman clapped his arms around Telemachus
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and covered him with kisses…”
p. 1247 lines 103-106 “and cries burst from both as keen and fluttering
as those of the great taloned hawk,
whose nestlings farmers take before they fly,
So helplessly they cried, pouring out tears…”
ALLITERATION – the repetition of beginning sounds
p. 1219 lines 303-304 “just so that eyeball hissed around the spike.
The Cyclops bellowed and the rock roared round him.”
p. 1222 lines 421-422 “Now comes the weird upon me, spoken of old.
A wizard, grand and wondrous, lived here…”
p. 1226 line 1 “Then I addressed the blurred and breathless dead”
line 13-14 “many were there, too, torn by brazen lanceheads,

battle-slain, bearing still their bloody gear.”
FORESHADOWING – hints about what is to come
p. 1223 Polyphemus’ curse “Should destiny

intend that he shall see his roof again
among his family in his fatherland,
far be that day, and dark the years between.
Let him lose all companions, and return
Under strange sail to bitter days at home.”
p. 1229 Tiresias’ prophecy “But if you raid the beeves, I see destruction
for ship and crew. Though you survive alone,
bereft of all companions, lost for years,
under strange sail shall you come home, to find
your own house filled with trouble: insolent men
eating your livestock as they court your lady.
Aye, you shall make those men atone in blood!”
DRAMATIC IRONY - when the reader or audience knows something that the
characters do not know
p. 1218 lines 276-277 Polyphemus tells Odysseus:

“Nohbdy’s my meat, then, after I eat his friends.
Others come first. There’s a noble gift, now.”
The audience knows that Odysseus survives; therefore, Polyphemus will not be
eating him after he eats all of Odysseus’ men.
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p. 1219 line 317 Other Cyclopes hear Polyphemus’ cries:

“Nohbdy, Nohbdy’s tricked me. Nohbdy’s ruined me!”
The audience knows he has been injured by a man he thinks is named Nohbdy.
Other Cyclopes hear the name and think he is uninjured by anyone unless it is a
god.
p. 1248 lines 28-29 Eumaeus speaks of Argos to Odysseus:

“A hunter owned him---but the man is dead
in some far place.”
The audience knows that he is speaking to that hunter, Odysseus, who is not dead.
IMAGERY – descriptive words and phrases that re-create sensory experiences for
the reader
p. 1218 lines 296-299 “So with our brand we bored that great eye socket
while blood ran out around the red-hot bar
Eyelid and lash were seared; the pierced ball
Hissed broiling, and the roots popped.”
ONOMATOPOEIA – sounds: “hissed” “popped”
p. 1250 lines 1-15 sight: “oaken sill,” “sanded clean,” “shining doors,”
“curving handles,” bright doors,” “plank floor,”
“milk-white arm,” “polished bow case”
sound: “rasping,” “a bellow like a bull’s vaunt,”
“light footfall”
scent: “herb-scented robes”
ALLUSION – reference to mythology, literature, or history
p. 1266 “Penelope” poem with references to Odysseus (“he”)

and Penelope (title, point of view)

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1

The Odyssey Literary Devices

TONE – the author’s attitude towards his subject

“Calypso” p. 1209 poignant, but accepting

EPIC (HOMERIC) SIMILES – a comparison using like or as

p. 1236 lines 193-198 “A man surf-casting on a point of rock

and covered him with kisses…”

ALLITERATION – the repetition of beginning sounds

p. 1226 line 1 “Then I addressed the blurred and breathless dead”

line 13-14 “many were there, too, torn by brazen lanceheads,

FORESHADOWING – hints about what is to come

p. 1223 Polyphemus’ curse “Should destiny

p. 1218 lines 276-277 Polyphemus tells Odysseus:

p. 1219 line 317 Other Cyclopes hear Polyphemus’ cries:

p. 1248 lines 28-29 Eumaeus speaks of Argos to Odysseus:

ALLUSION – reference to mythology, literature, or history

p. 1266 “Penelope” poem with references to Odysseus (“he”)

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