epic simile

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

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.