The Odyssey is a metaphor

by Sterling Davis





        One of the easiest ways to spot a first-rate intelligence is to use a metaphor and see it land instantly. In fact, poetry, my chosen profession, is entirely metaphorical. Society itself is emphatically a metaphor.


    And metaphors creep into daily life so seamlessly, and so frequently, that they are the gamma rays of our social fabric. One knows they are there, but one never sees them.


    The Odyssey by Homer is less an epic poem than a metaphor. The metaphor is: become. Grow as an individual. Find oneself. Overcome adversity. Live authentically. Unite your tribe. Do great deeds. Be a hero, if only to oneself. Find your soul. And become immortal, like Odysseus.


The Odyssey is a metaphor.


Sterling Davis is the Executive Editor of Poetries in English Magazine.


​​​​SHARE - Issue: 1.8 / April 2026