Odyssey, Part 2 What is the effect of the epic simile in lines 118–131 of the Odyssey, Part 2? "Now, being a man, I could not help consenting. So I went down to the sea beach and the ship, where I found all my other men on board, 120 weeping, in despair along the benches. Sometimes in farmyards when the cows return well-fed from pasture to the barn, one sees the pens give way before the calves in tumult, breaking through to cluster about their mothers, 125 bumping together, bawling. Just that way my crew poured round me when they saw me come— their faces wet with tears as if they saw their homeland, and the crags of Ithaca, even the very town where they were born." (1 point) Responses to compare Odysseus's men to beasts to compare Odysseus's men to beasts to criticize Odysseus's men's lack of loyalty to criticize Odysseus's men's lack of loyalty to reveal Odysseus's hurry to go back and free his men to reveal Odysseus's hurry to go back and free his men to show how Odysseus's men depended on him
The effect of the epic simile in these lines is to show how Odysseus's men were overwhelmed with emotion and desperation upon seeing him. The comparison to the calves breaking through the pens to be with their mothers emphasizes the intense longing and attachment the men had for their homeland and their leader. It also highlights the strong bond and dependence they had on Odysseus.
