Land of the Dead

Being dead, Odysseus's mother, Anticlea, has a little information for him. She fills him in on the goings on at home and how she died. She also tells Odysseus that she cannot embrace him because the dead have no solid form.

What simile does Homer use to help his audience see what happens when Scylla whisks six men from Odysseus’s ship? What do Odysseus’s feelings here to you about his character?