Of Rocks and Men: Rolling Stone Similes in Homeric Literature Anonymous College

“The Trojans came down on them in a pack, and Hektor led them raging straight forward, like a great rolling stone from a rock face that a river swollen with winter rain has wrenched from its socket and with immense washing broken the hold of the unwilling rock face; the springing boulder flies on, and the forest thunders beneath it; and the stone runs unwavering on a strong course, till it reaches the flat land, then rolls no longer for all its onrush; so Hektor for a while threatened lightly to break through the shelters and ships of the Achaians and reach the water cutting his way. But when he collided with the dense battalions he was stopped, hard, beaten in on himself.” -The Iliad By Homer, book 13 lines 136-46.

In the middle of Book 13 of The Iliad, when Homer employs the simile outlined above, the fortunes of the Greek Army are at their nadir. Abandoned by their greatest warrior in their time of need, with their king wounded and thousands of their comrades dead on the battlefield, the surviving Achaean warriors make a last stand in their fortifications. In front of them, is the Trojan Army, lead by Hektor in all his glory. At their backs is the sea. They have nowhere to run and nowhere to hide: if they break formation...