Zeus, ancient near eastern notions of divine incomparability, and similes in the homeric epics

Abstract

This article explores the significance of the following fact: in neither the Iliad nor the Odyssey does one find a simile about Zeus. I argue that just as ancient Near Eastern texts characterize a god by declaring it impossible to fashion a comparison about him or her, so the Homeric epics characterize Zeus by avoiding statements in the shape "Zeus (is) like X." © 2012 by The Regents of the University of California.