the results of the previous chapters urge an exploration of the Iliad's narrator-text itself and a search for the competitive dynamics of similes therein. I begin this chapter with a brief examination of the sequential arrangement of one pair and one series of similes in the narrator-text. At such moments, the poet gives a competitive orientation to the similes describing the heroes' martial contests. This arrangement amplifies the successful warrior's feat. I then study at greater length a hitherto neglected component of the narrator's similes. Like sequences of similes, individual extended similes in the narrator-text can evince an agonistic orientation: they contribute to the portrayal of the characters in the Iliad as competitors for time in the spotlight.

TWO SEQUENCES OF SIMILES

When they first meet in combat, Patroklos and Hektor resemble two lions (Il. 16.756–58), but when Hektor gains the upper hand, Patroklos is said to resemble a boar, and Hektor, a lion that defeats the boar (16.823–28). Deborah Beck writes, “[Patroklos] has been beaten in the battle of both narrative and simile” (2005a: 180). We could just as easily say that Hektor wins in the battle of both narrative and simile. What happens in one important element of the discourse (the simile) parallels and reinforces the victor's success at the level of the story: the vehicle that represents the victor triumphs over the vehicle that represents his opponent.