Emotional Immersion

Abstract

Abstract The Iliad prompts various forms of suspense in its audience––how-, when-, and what-suspense along with metasuspense. Typical components of the tale’s construction help generate suspense, and the poem prompts suspense not only with its diegetic delays but also with its non-diegetic delays in the form of similes because similes are often closely integrated into their narrative context. Their identification with the characters helps even those recipients who know what will happen feel suspense. The Iliad cues other emotions in its audiences by encouraging their judgments of the characters; the poem also generates emotions like fear and disgust.