The use of the epic simile in this excerpt helps the reader understand that the Cyclops only has one eye.
how brutal Odysseus and his men are.
the size of the wooden spear.
how hot the spear actually is.

This question is incomplete because the excerpt is missing; here is the excerpt:

In a smithy   one sees a white-hot axehead or an adze  plunged and wrung in a cold tub, screeching steam-  the way they make soft iron hale and hard—: just so that eyeball hissed around the spike.

The answer to this question is D. How hot the spear actually is

Explanation:  

The purpose of the epic simile is to make an extensive comparison between two elements of ideas. This differs from regular simile because it uses many details or lines to make the comparison. In the excerpt presented, the author uses an epic simile to compare the actin of the spike entering the eye of the cyclops with the action of putting a hot metal in a cold tub through details such as "white-hot axehead... in a cold tub" or "that eyeball hissed around the spike". Moreover, the purpose of using this epic simile is to emphasize how hot the spike is, which allows the reader to imagine the reaction of the cyclops as the hot spike enters its eye.    

the rhetoric device being used to persuade the audience is pathos.

explanation:

the silver bells of the sleds are merry and keep time in the winter nights while the sky twinkles happily. the golden bells of weddings are delightful in their peaceful happiness, foretelling a rapturous future. meanwhile, the brazen alarm bells scream frightfully in the night, with a discordant and desperate sound. in their clamor, these bells convey terror, horror, and anger. finally, the iron bells are solemn and melancholy, while those in the church steeple are like ghouls who feel happiness. the king of the ghouls, who rings the bells, cheerfully keeps time with the moaning and groaning bells.