The Iliad, for instance, contains many such similes comparing fighting warriors to lions attacking wild boars or other prey.
In the words of Peter Jones, Homeric similes "are miraculous, redirecting the reader's attention in the most unexpected ways and suffusing the poem with vividness, pathos and humour".
Scott argues that Homer primarily uses similes to introduce his characters, "sometimes to glorify them and sometimes merely to call attention to them."
[3] However, he also points out that Homer's similes serve as a poetic device in order to foreshadow and keep the reader interested – just as the fateful, climactic confrontation of Achilles and Hector.
She states that "the point of the simile is the verb which makes the common ground for the nouns involved."