Appendix on Nature and Animal Similes in Homer

The first simile compares the gleam of the army’s bronze to the shining of a fire consuming forests on top of mountain. The second simile refers to the broad movements of the host: they are compared to tribes - ethnea - of geese that fly backwards and forwards and then settle with a thunder on some Asian meadow; in just such a way the many tribes – same word – flowed from the ships to the Skamandrian plain, and made the earth thunder with their feet and the hooves of the horses. Another two-line simile follows comparing now their number – rather than their motion – to the number of leaves and flowers in their season, of spring. The fourth simile compares the shape of the squadrons to the many tribes – same word, ethnea – of close-packed flies that gather in season of spring around the milk in the shepherd’s station: in just such a way do the Akhaian tribes – again, same word – gather in the field eager to shatter the Trojans.