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epic simile

 
Dictionary: epic simile

n.
An extended simile elaborated in great detail. Also called Homeric simile.


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Literary Dictionary: epic simile
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epic simile, an extended simile elaborated in such detail or at such length as to eclipse temporarily the main action of a narrative work, forming a decorative digression. Usually it compares one complex action (rather than a simple quality or thing) with another: for example, the approach of an army with the onset of storm‐clouds. Sometimes called a Homeric simile after its frequent use in Homer's epic poems, it was also used by Virgil, Milton, and others in their literary epics.

 
 

 

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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Literary Dictionary. The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms. Copyright © Chris Baldick 2001, 2004. All rights reserved.  Read more