Book 10 Similes - Will

They are multiple examples of similes in book 10, however only two really caught my attention while the rest were mostly describing one character rather then contributing to the plot.

Simile 1

Pg 239 Line 96 - 98

"The Sky-dwellers, all in an uproar, favored one side of the other. Like first growled gusts of a tempest trapped in a forest, they rumble. The gale's not seen, but the tolling roar alerts sailors to storm winds wending their way towards water"

-This Simile is an example of the gods' wrath, the sky-dweller represents the gods, the uproar represents the argument they are having about Aeneas and the coming war. The gods' wrath represented as the growled gust of a tempest, means that although mortals are unaware of the danger that is soon to come, they are given signs in the form of prophecies warning them of what is to come. The gods' wrath is a continuing motif in the Aeneid where Juno continues her hate on Aeneas and the surviving Trojan.

Simile 2

Pg 250 Line 452 - 456

"Turnus leaped from his chariot, setting the style for a close-range duel on foot. And the image evoked is that of a lion, watching, from high in the hills, as a bull in the grasslands below him thinks about fighting, but make no move".

-This Simile is an important simile that shows the relation of Turnus to Pallas, Pallas is described as the bull who is hesitant on whether it should fight the lion, Turnus. Hesitation means death on the battlefield, and in this simile Pallas is already locked on to the fate that would lead him to his death. His death would eventually play a huge role, much like Patroculus' death in the Iliad.

Simile 3

Pg 258 Line 693 - 695

"He's like crag that protrudes in the vast expanses of ocean, set in the path of the furious gales and exposed to the breakers, bearing the brunt of the threatening onslaught of sky and of sea-swell"

-This is one of many similes that show the characteristics of the exiled tyrant Mezentius. Mezentius is portrayed as a very powerful and very violent warrior who was exiled as king of the Etruscan due to his Tyrant like ways. In this simile Mezentius is depicted as a crag set in the path of the furious gales and exposed to breakers, this shows that Mezentius during all the fighting is targeted by many of the enemies but no matter how many numbers the enemy way have Mezentius will weather them all and destroy them. This is also one of the only similes in which Mezentius is depicted as an inanimate object.