The frequent use of similes, as in the last passage from the Odyssey, is one of the chief features in which Greek heroic poetry differs from Teutonic. Sometimes however the same kind of picture is brought before us in a different way. Thus among the commonest Homeric similes are those derived from hunting scenes. A typical example occurs in Il. XV 271 ff.: "As when hounds and men of the country chase a horned stag or a wild goat, and it is saved by a precipitous rock or dense wood, and they cannot succeed in finding it," etc. With this may be compared a passage in Beowulf describing the pool in which the demons had made their lair (v. 1369 ff.): "Though the heath-ranger, the stag of mighty horns, may make his way to the forest when beset by hounds after a long chase, he will yield up his spirit and his life on the brink before he will be willing to shelter his head therein."
Occasionally we meet with similes of a more ambitious, not to say extravagant, character, as in Il. II 455 ff., where the gleam arising from the bronze armour of the Achaean army is compared to the blaze produced by a forest fire. For this also we find parallels in Teutonic poetry, e.g. Finn 35 f.: "A gleam arose from the swords, as though Finn's fortress were all on fire."
In the use of epithets and poetical expressions many remarkable parallels are to be found. Some of these are merely of a descriptive character, e.g. ἄκριας ἠνεμοέσσας (Od. XVI 365) beside windige naessas (Beow. 1359), and some are little more than circumlocutions, e.g. υἷες Ἀχαιῶν, Geata bearn, for Ἀχαιοί, Geatas. In other cases however a distinct metaphor is involved, as when ships are called ἁλὸς ἵπποι (Od. IV 708), corresponding to the Anglo-Saxon brimhengest, which is probably an epic word, though it does not occur in the extant fragments. In particular note should be taken of the metaphorical terms applied to kings, e.g. ποιμὴν λαῶν which may be compared with folces hyrde, ἕρκος Ἀχαιῶν with eodur Scyldinga, and perhaps also οὖρος Ἀχαιῶν with the very common expression eorla hleo.
The characteristics which we have been discussing up till now affect only the language and style of the two groups of poems. But it is to be observed that they possess also certain common features which appear to be of deeper significance. Thus such expressions as ὄλβον ἐπέκλωσαν or wigspeda gewiofu ('the webs of success in war') are probably to be traced to a primitive religious conception, which may be seen more clearly in Od. VII 196 ff.: "There he shall experience afterwards whatever Fate and the stern Κλῶθες ('spinning women') spun for him when he was born[496]." For the prevalence of similar ideas among the Teutonic peoples we may refer to Helgakviða Hundingsbana, I 3 f., Gylfaginning, cap. 15, Niáls Saga, cap. 157, and above all to the Saga af Nornagesti (cap. 11), which presents such a remarkable parallel to the story of Althaia and Meleagros.
Somewhat clearer evidence of a common religious conception is furnished by Beow. 2124 ff., a passage which we have already quoted (p. [54]). The rite of 'paying the due of fire' (λελάχωσι πυρός) to a dead man is often mentioned in the Iliad (e.g. VII 79 f., XXII 342 f., XXIII 76; cf. XXIV 37 f.) and undoubtedly had a religious significance. This may be seen especially from the speech of Elpenor in Od. XI 71 ff.: "There I exhort thee then, my lord, to be mindful of me and not to leave me behind unlamented and unburied, abandoning me when thou goest away, lest I bring down wrath from the gods upon thee. But burn me up with my arms, all that I possess, and construct for me a barrow upon the shore of the grey sea, the memorial of an unfortunate man, so that I may be known even to those who shall be hereafter."
It will be observed that this passage, apart from its religious bearing, expresses a desire on the part of the speaker that his memory may not be forgotten. Here we are brought to one of the most striking characteristics of heroic poetry, both Greek and Teutonic, namely the constantly expressed thirst for fame, both during one's own life and in after times. As a typical example we may take a passage from Hector's speech before his combat with Aias (Il. VII 85 ff.): "I will give up his body to the longhaired Achaeans, so that they may take him to the well-decked ships for burial and construct for him a memorial barrow by the broad Hellespont. So shall it be said in time to come by some one who lives in after days, when he sails his many-oared ship over the dark sea: 'This is the memorial of a man who died long ago, who once upon a time was slain in his prowess by glorious Hector.' So shall it be said in time to come; and my fame shall never perish." In Od. XXIV 80 ff. Agamemnon's spirit describes how such honours had been paid to the remains of Achilles: "Then over them our sacred host of warriors from Argos constructed a great and splendid grave-mound, upon a projecting headland above the broad Hellespont—so that it might be conspicuous to men upon the sea, both those who are now alive and those who shall be hereafter." With both these passages we may compare the dying words of Beowulf (v. 2802 ff.): "After the pyre is consumed command my famous warriors to construct a splendid grave-chamber where the headland juts into the sea. It shall tower aloft on Hrones Naes as a memorial for my people—so that in after days the name of 'Beowulf's Barrow' shall be familiar to mariners who ply their tall ships from afar over the dark waters."
The summit of a hero's ambition is to have his glory celebrated everywhere and for all time. Odysseus himself says (Od. IX 20) that his glory reaches to heaven. His wife bewails her troubles in the following words (ib. IV 724): "Before this I lost my brave lion-hearted husband who was preeminent among the Danaoi for every kind of excellence. Far and wide was that brave man's glory spread, throughout Hellas and mid Argos." The extent of Beowulf's fame is proclaimed in more extravagant terms. One passage (v. 1221 ff.) has already been quoted (p. [88]). We may compare also v. 856 ff.: "There was Beowulf's fame celebrated. Frequently and by many was it declared that whether to the south or north, between the two seas, on earth's broad expanse and beneath the canopy of heaven, there existed no nobler warrior nor one more worthy to govern."
This love of glory is held up as an incitement to bravery in critical situations, as in Wald. I 8 ff., where Hildegyth encourages the hero as follows: "O son of Aelfhere, a day is come which without doubt has in store for thee one or other of two issues—either to lose thy life or to possess lasting glory among mortals." For the alternative form of expression, though used from a different point of view, we may compare Socos' speech in Il. XI 430 ff.: "O far-famed Odysseus, today thou shalt either be able to boast over two sons of Hippasos—that thou hast slain such men as we are and robbed us of our arms—or smitten beneath my spear thou shalt lose thy life."
The last passage introduces us to another prominent characteristic of heroic poetry, namely the boasting of warriors over their own personal prowess and the deeds they have performed or are going to perform. Sometimes this is represented as taking place in the banqueting hall, as in Il. XX 83 ff., where the disguised Apollo thus taunts Aineias: "Aineias, thou counseller of the Trojans, where now is thy boasting, in which thou didst vow to the princes of the Trojans, when quaffing thy wine, that thou wouldst try thy strength in open battle against Achilles son of Peleus!" We may compare Beow. 480 ff.: "Often enough have scions of combat vowed over the ale-cup, when drunken with beer, that they would abide Grendel's onset in the hall with their terrible swords." Beowulf himself indulges in a similar boast (v. 636 ff.): "I am resolved to perform a deed of knightly prowess or to meet with my life's end in this mead-hall."