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Paris: Magnificent Hero or Spoiled Child? Homer uses tone, imagery, epithets, and similes to describe Paris’ character. Outwardly, Paris is a brave person, but inwardly, he is full of doubts and fears. He is like a stallion that has been pampered too much, a c ....

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.... or feeling. It is as if his famed hero’s will were itself disintegrating on the battlefield. Homer uses the epithet “proud” to modify the Trojan lines, an adjective that intensifies the effect of Paris’ action of retreating by mentioning its opposite. Homer further reviles Paris by calling him, ironically, “magnificent” and “brave,” thereby heightening the indignity of his cowardly retreat. Another contrast in Paris’ character is represented in his beauty. He is known as one of the most handsome men in Troy, but looks can be deceiving, as Hector implies when he says, “Paris, appalling Paris! Our prince of beauty--/mad for wome ....