The Lust of Conquest
The Cid uses psychological strategy framed in metaphor. He tricks his opponents into letting down their guard because he recognizes that in their urgency to reign victorious over him, they are giving into a lust for a greater prize. The Cid represents not victory itself, but the means to “great profit” they expect to enjoy when they “win a mighty booty.” The lust of conquest is really the lust for filthy lucre.
“Forth rushed both great and small, In the lust of conquest thinking of nothing else at all. They left the gates unguarded, none watched them any more.”
“With the thunder of the war-drum the earth was like to crack.”
The sound of the Moors beating the rhythm of their war drums is a recurring image through the poem. At one point, the fear instilled in it gives the author a chance to portray the softer side of the Cid when he alleviates the rising terror growing in his wife and daughters. This is the first mention of the drumming and here it situated as more symbolic than literal terror.
The Beard of the Cid
The impressive quality of the beard sported by the Cid is referenced throughout the poem in a way that has the cumulative effect of transforming into a metaphor for the gradually increasing fullness of his reputation.
“By the victory there much honor unto his beard he did.”
“But God! What a glad aspect the Cid fair-bearded wore”
“But the lord Cid long-bearded hath overthrown that throng.”
“And now his beard was growing; longer it grew apace.”
Not Worth a Fig
One of the Cid’s lieutenants engages a common metaphor to describe the loss of worth or value when he admits that staying loyal to the cause gain him friendship at the cost of everything he owns:
“Late or soon, if I 'scape with thee the King must seek me forth For friendship's sake; if not, my wealth, a fig it is not worth.”
King in Simile Only
After his victory in Valencia, the Cid receives the ultimate honor of being allowed briefly to become a metaphorical sovereign. The king invites him to take a place of honor, but literally only the sense of sitting, not becoming.
“Sit like a king and master on thy bench, for it is thine; In this station will I tarry here with these men of mine."
