Which epic characteristic is represented by the opening lines of the Iliad by Homer?

What shame, what woe is this to Greece! what joy

To Troy's proud monarch, and the friends of Troy!

That adverse gods commit to stern debate

The best, the bravest, of the Grecian state.

Young as ye are, this youthful heat restrain,

Nor think your Nestor's years and wisdom vain.

A godlike race of heroes once I knew,

Such as no more these aged eyes shall view!

Lives there a chief to match Pirithous' fame,

Dryas the bold, or Ceneus' deathless name;

Theseus, endued with more than mortal might,

Or Polyphemus, like the gods in fight?

A. the use of epic simile

B. starting in medias res

C. invoking the muse

D. the use of epithets

An epic simile is basically a regular simile, but it takes place over the course of several lines in poetry. There is no evidence in the excerpt provided that the correct answer could be a simile, so we’ll rule that option out.

The phrase starting in medias generally means that it’s a somewhat introduction. It can often introduce the story in the beginning, or be a great start if you want to start your story with a flashback. I’d say this is a good answer for the question, but just in case there’s a better one let’s go over the other options as well.

To invoke the muse would be to get inspiration for whatever it is you’re going to start doing. For example, let’s say you’re writing a story, and you have no ‘muse.’ Here you’d ‘pray to the muse gods’ to give you muse, or in another word, inspiration. This is clearly not the answer because the passage is not invoking any muse. They clearly already know which direction they’re taking with the story.

And finally, the use of epithets would be to specifically describing something and / or someone. Sure, this passage caries descriptive detail, but that’s not its primary focus.

In conclusion, the correct answer to this question is b) starting in medias res.

- Marlon Nunez