previous next
[11] Similes also, as said above, are always in a manner approved metaphors;1 since they always consist of two terms, like the proportional metaphor, as when we say, for instance, that the shield is the goblet of Ares, and the bow a lyre without strings.
But such an expression is not simple, but when we call the bow a lyre, or the shield a goblet, it is.2

1 Or, reading αἱ for ἀεὶ, “approved similes are . . .”

2 In the simple metaphor “goblet” is substituted for “shield,” but sometimes additions are made to the word as differently applied, such as “of Ares” and “without strings.” These additions, besides involving greater detail (a characteristic of the simile), distinctly bring out the contrast of the two terms and make a simile, whereas the metaphor simply transfers the meaning.

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

load focus Notes (E. M. Cope, 1877)
load focus Greek (W. D. Ross, 1959)
hide Places (automatically extracted)

View a map of the most frequently mentioned places in this document.

Download Pleiades ancient places geospacial dataset for this text.

hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: