Which Homeric technique is explicitly cited as being repurposed in the Aeneid to frame a Roman national epic?

• A. Invocation
• B. Digressions
• C. Epic similes
• D. Chorus dances

Answer: (C)

Epic similes are long, extended comparisons that Homer uses to magnify action by linking it to distant or familiar scenes. In the Aeneid, Vergil deliberately borrows this device to give Roman events the same epic scale and resonance that Greek heroes enjoy. By expanding moments of struggle—storms at sea, battles, and peril—into elaborate similes, the poem places Aeneas’s deeds within the grand tradition of Homeric epic. This use of epic similes helps frame Rome’s national epic as part of a longstanding heroic conversation, lending it authority and universality while still grounding it in Roman history.

Invocations are a feature of epic poetry, but the question centers on a device that repeatedly frames the narrative through expansive, reflective comparisons. Digressions and chorus dances appear in different genres or contexts and don’t serve the same framing function in Vergil as the continuous use of epic similes does.