In his hand
His massive spear he held twelve cubits long,
Whose glittering point flash'd bright with hoop of gold
Encircled round.

Narrations of fact are of several kinds, some like the following (I.
vii. 60):--

When in the midst they met, together rush'd
Bucklers and lances, and the furious might
Of mail-clad warriors; bossy shield on shield
Clattered in conflict; loud the clamor rose.

The emotional narrative is where the incident is connected with some
personal cause or energy, as when he speaks about things arising from
anger or fear or sorrow, or when people are wounded, killed, or any
other such thing happens to them. As a specimen of cause, take the
following (I. i. 103):--

His dark soul filled with fury, and his eyes
Flashed like flames of fire.

Of an action (I. xvii. 51):--

Those locks, that with the Graces hair might vie,
Those tresses bright, with gold and silver bound,
Were dabbled all with blood.

A Trope is constructive of action, or experience, or form, according as
one acts in a special way or is acted upon. He follows the whole scene
in this sort of narrative. An example of it would be as follows (O.
xxii. 15):--

But Odysseus aimed and smote him with the arrow in his throat,
and the point passed clean out through his delicate neck and
he fell back, and the cup dropped from his hand as he was
smitten, and at once through his nostrils there came up a
thick jet of slain man's blood.

There is also in Homer narration which has for the most part copious
expression, a method of working in full, fitting the subject. Sometimes,
however, it is concise, as in the following (I. xviii. 20):--

Patroclus lies in death,
And o'er his body now the war is waged,
His naked body, for his arms are now
The prize of Hector of the glancing helmet.

This type is often useful, for the quickness of the words make the
reader and speaker more intent, and he immediately takes in the subject.

Sometimes he tells his story lightly; sometimes by an image or likeness
or simile. An image, as when he says (O. xix. 53):--

Now forth from her chamber came the wise Penelope like
Artemis or golden Aphrodite.

A likeness as (I. iii. 196):--

He like a goat crossed the serried lines first.

A simile, when he makes a comparison of closely related things that has
a conne