HKB
for marble is a species of rock. From the genus the species (O. ii. 159).--
To know the birds and to say many fitting things.
He wishes to say not all birds, but only the birds of auspices. From the instruments the action, as (I. ii. 827):--
Pandorus to whom he gave the bow of Apollo.
By the bow he indicates the skill in using it. And (O. xii. 172):--
Sitting they made the water white,--
and (O. iii. 486):--
Now others moved the whole day the thong of their sandal.
This comes from an accidental feature; in the first case "they were rowing," in the next "they were running," is to be implied. Besides there is the consequent to the precedent, as (O. xi. 245):--
She loosed the virgin zone.
It follows that she defiled it. From the consequent the precedent, as when instead of saying "to kill" he says "to disarm," that is, to spoil.
There is another Trope called Metonymy, i.e. when an expression applied properly to one thing indicates another related to it, such as (I. ii. 426):--
But the young men proceed to grind Demeter,--
for he means the crop of grain named from its inventor, Demeter. And when he says (O. xix. 28):--
They held the transfixed entrails over Hephaestus.
By the name Hephaestus he signifies fire. Like what has previously been mentioned is this (I. i. 223).--
Whoever shall touch my choenix,--
for what is contained in the choenix is intended.
There is besides another Trope, Autonomasia, when an epithet or co-title is used for a proper name, as in this example (I. viii. 39):--
The son of Peleus again attacked the son of Atreus with petulant words.
By this he indicates Achilles and Agamemnon respectively. And again (I. xxii. 183):--
Be of good cheer, Tritonia, dear daughter,--
and in other places (I. xx. 39):--
Shorn Phoebus.
In the one case he means Athene and in the other Apollo.
There is, too, Antiphrasis, or an expression signifying the opposite from what it appears to do (I. i. 330):--
Seeing these Achilles did not rejoice.
He wishes to say the contrary, that seeing them he was disgusted.
There is also Emphasis, which through reflection adds vigor to what is said (O. xi. 523):--
But descending into the home which Epeus constructed.
In the word "descending" he reveals the great size of the house. Of the same kind is the line (I. xvi. 333):--
The whole sand was hot with blood,--
for in this he furnishes a more intense description, as if the sand was so bathed with blood that it was hot. These kind of Tropes were invented by Homer first of all.
Let us look at the changes of construction which are called figures to see if Homer also first invented these. Figure is a method of expression divergent from ordinary custom for the sake of ornament or utility, altered by a kind of fiction. For beauty is added to narrative by variety and change of expression, and these make the style more impressive. They are also useful because they exalt and intensify innate qualities and powers.
Among the figures Pleonasm is sometimes used for the sake of the metre; as in (I. xix. 247):--
Odysseus adding all ten talents of gold,--
for the word "all" is added without contributing to the sense. It is done for the sake of ornament, cf. (I. xviii. 12).--
Certainly the strenuous son of Menoetius is quite dead,--
for the word "quite" is pleonastic after the Attic fashion.
Sometimes by several forms of speech he unfolds his meaning. This is called Periphrasis. As when he says "Sons of the Achaeans" for Achaeans, and the "Herculean might" for Hercules.
Things are said figuratively by Mutation when the ordinary order is inverted. But he puts in an expression in the midst which is called Hyperbaton, as in this (I. xvii. 542):--
Just as a lion feeds on an eaten bull,--