Identify an example of an epic simile in book 13, book 21, or book 24 of the odyssey and explain how it is different from a typical simile

Epic similes are the use of comparison where the primary subject is eclipsed by the secondary subject whereas a normal simile is the comparison of two completely contrasting things.

An example of an epic simile in "The Odyssey" is the use of the farmer image for Odyssey.

Explanation:

A typical simile is a literary device where the writer/ author compares one thing with another from a completely different thing. This comparison may seem probable but which can not be in reality. For instance, she smiles like the sun.

Whereas a Homeric simile or an epic simile is the comparison of two things in such a way that the main subject is eclipsed by the thing that it is compared to/ with.

In Book XIII of Homer's epic "The Odyssey", Odysseus is compared to a farmer in anticipation of going home after a long day's work.

"As one who has been all day ploughing a fallow field with a couple of oxen keeps thinking about his supper and is glad when night comes that he may go and get it, for it is all his legs can do to carry him, even so did Ulysses rejoice when the sun went down."

This epic simile make it seem like he is a normal farmer who looks forward to being home. Even though he may be a hero and a brave king, Homer made him like a normal man with the same feelings as that of a humble farmer.