In ancient times, shields spoke yields of their owner and their beliefs. Sometimes, they even showed their owner’s eminent fate. In the Iliad and the Aeneid, the shields of heroes—Achilles and Aeneas—are described both similarly and differently. There are many similarities in their shields: both having received the shields from their goddess mothers. Both shields were made by Hephaestus/Vulcan. The shields were also described in depth, making the shields seem comparable. However, they differed in the images on the shields. In the end, the Iliad’s description of the shield was the more effective symbol of the two stories. Aeneas and Achilles were very similar; they both had mothers who cared deeply for them. Achilles was gifted his shield and …show more content…
Virgil’s prose was written between 29 and 19 BC, meanwhile Homer’s story was around 8th century BC. Therefore, having been written around 700 years later, The Aeneid’s description of Aeneas’s shield is almost too similar to Achilles’s shield in the Iliad. Therefore, Homer’s description of Achilles’s shield was a more effective symbol. Because it was the original symbol, Achilles’s shield obviously inspired Virgil in his story, The Aeneid. Furthermore, Homer’s shield description was foreshadowing what was to come to Troy and Achilles in the continuance of the Trojan War. While it was not stated in the Iliad, Achilles would be killed by Paris near the closing of the war. Therefore, the shield was foreshadowing the death and despair that would come to Achilles. Meanwhile, Aeneas’s shield simply told him of the great fortune ahead. The shield of Achilles was more effective because the reader did not know that shield was foretelling his fate. Therefore, it was more successful by its warning and …show more content…
One owner was forever remembered as a Roman hero, while the other died brutally in war. Even though Achilles was killed by Paris, Homer perfectly described the shield of Achilles. It showed life and death, happiness and war, and finally peace versus brutality. The prophetic shield should have been a warning to the great Achilles. However, he did not see the warning hidden in the beautiful shield’s images. This made the shield the more effective symbol. Finally, Homer’s Iliad came first and therefore, Virgil’s Aeneid was simply modeling its shield description off of the shield of Achilles. In the end, the first story, the Iliad, had to be more effective because its ideology was original and it foreshadowed the impending fate of a great war hero. It was not a replica, like The Aeneid. In the end, being original is the more effective
He uses imagery in phrases such as “slash to attack” to convey how aggressive he wants his troops to be when fighting the Greeks. The quote also uses diction where Hector says “never run” and “grim assault” to convey that no matter what the Greeks do he won’t back down. Later on in The Iliad, Hector does not display this level of courage. Book 22 starts with Hector disregarding his parent’s pleas for him to stay within the walls of Troy. Hector seems ready to fight Achilles until they are face to face and Hector is scared. In the book it states, “Hector looked up, saw him, started to tremble, Nerve gone, he could hold his ground no longer he left the gates behind and away he fled in fear and Achilles went for him fast sure of his speed as the Wild Mountain Hawk...swooping down on a cringing dove(22.162-167).” Homer uses imagery and a simile in this section to convey Hector’s lack of bravery in comparison to Achilles fearlessness. Homer uses phrases such as “started to tremble” and “away he fled
"I sing of warfare and a man at war…Till he could found a city…the high walls of Rome." (Book I, 1-12) There can be no dispute that the Aeneid is an account of the history of Rome. There are several items which with Virgil links the story of Aeneas to the Rome of his time period. Probably the most obvious of these is the surplus of predictions concerning Rome’...
Aeneas also went to fight in the Trojan War. He also was a national hero. He was a great warrior. Both Odysseus and Aeneas were trying to head home.
Hector was the best warrior in all of Troy. He was the Trojans best hope of winning the war against the Greeks. Achilles was the Greeks best warrior, and their best chance of winning the war. This automatically made the two characters adversaries,
The dominant factor in an epic is the heroic main character. This character often is the son of a god or goddess and is favored by the gods. Heroic characters are also always hounded by constant tragedy which drives them to fulfill their fates. Most heroic characters are high in social status and share close contacts with the gods. All of these qualities of heroic characters show up in the characters of Aeneas from The Aeneid and Gilgamesh from the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Both the Odyssey and the Aeneid represent their cultures very well, but they express different ideas on what one should strive for in life. There are also different forces that pushed both epics to be written. The Aeneid expresses the Roman idea of pietas which means to show extreme respect for one’s ancestors. We see this in Aeneas when he is pictured caring his father away from burning Troy. He has pietas because he cared so much for his father that in fleeing from Troy he took up his father over his shoulder to save his from certain death. This is not the only major idea in the Aeneid. There is also a very political focus. The Roman were very interested in politics which comes through in the Aeneid. The Odyssey has the Greek idea of arete trapped somewhere among the many themes. Arete is a strive for perfection in both mind and body. It is a much more personal and individual idea than the Roman pietas. In the most basic seance the Aeneid and the Romans have a much more political focus and duty to the state ( republic ) than the Greeks who honor tradition , family , and arete.
Homer's two central heroes, Odysseus and Achilles, are in many ways differing manifestations of the same themes. While Achilles' character is almost utterly consistent in his rage, pride, and near divinity, Odysseus' character is difficult to pin down to a single moral; though perhaps more human than Achilles, he remains more difficult to understand. Nevertheless, both heroes are defined not by their appearances, nor by the impressions they leave upon the minds of those around them, nor even so much by the words they speak, but almost entirely by their actions. Action is what drives the plot of both the Iliad and the Odyssey, and action is what holds the characters together. In this respect, the theme of humanity is revealed in both Odysseus and Achilles: man is a combination of his will, his actions, and his relationship to the divine. This blend allows Homer to divulge all that is human in his characters, and all that is a vehicle for the idyllic aspects of ancient Greek society. Accordingly, the apparent inconsistencies in the characterization of Odysseus can be accounted for by his spiritual distance from the god-like Achilles; Achilles is more coherent because he is the son of a god. This is not to say that Achilles is not at times petty or unimaginative, but that his standards of action are merely more continuous through time. Nevertheless, both of Homer's heroes embody important and admirable facets of ancient Greek culture, though they fracture in the ways they are represented.
Throughout the Iliad, heroic characters make decisions based on a specific set of principles, which are referred to as the “code of honor.” The heroic code that Homer presents to readers is easy to recognize because the heroic code is the cause for many of the events that take place, but many of the characters have different perceptions of how highly the code should be regarded. Hector, the greatest of the Trojan warriors, begins the poem as a model for a hero. His dedication and firm belief in the code of honor is described many times throughout the course of the Iliad. As a reward for heroic traits in battle, prizes were sometimes awarded to victors of war. In Book 1 Achilles receives Chryseis as a prize and a symbol of honor. Heroism had its rewards and its setbacks which ultimately was the backbone of the Illiad in the case of Achilles prize. Hector, arguably the greatest Trojan warrior or even the bravest of the Homeric heroes is very fierce and fights for what he believes is his destiny. In book VI Hector expresses his bravery when Andromache pleads with Hector not to fight when Hector says, “But I would die of shame to face the men of Troy and the Trojan woman trailing their long robes if I would shrink from battle now, a coward. Nor does the sprit urge me on that way. I’ve learned it all too well. To stand up bravely, always to fight in the front ranks of Trojan soldiers, winning my father great glory, glory for myself” (VI, 387).
In Virgil’s poem, The Aeneid, the ideal Roman hero is depicted in the form of Aeneas. Not only does Aeneas represent the Roman hero, but he also represents what every Roman citizen is called to be. Each Roman citizen must posses two major virtues, he must remain pious, and he must remain loyal to the Roman race. In the poem, Aeneas encompasses both of these virtues, and must deal with both the rewards and costs of them.
Odysseus and Aeneas are very alike in some ways and very different. They are both epic heroes except that one is Greek and the other is a Trojan. Odysseus is from the Greek tale The Oddessy, which was written by the famous Greek poet Homer. His quest is to find his way back home after a long journey. Aeneas is from the roman tale The Aenied, written by Virgil a famous Roman poet. Aeneas’s mission is to find a new home for him and his family. Both these characters had many similarities and differences in their ways of fighting.
In Virgil’s The Aeneid, there are many parallels found in Homer’s The Odyssey. In each epic, the heroes, Aeneas and Odysseus, are on a journey “home.” Aeneas is on the search of a new home for he and his companions to settle since Troy has been destroyed, Odysseus on the other hand is attempting to return to his home he left years earlier to fight the Trojan War. They both have Gods against them and helping them, both Aeneas and Odysseus are both held back by women, both voluntary and involuntarily, and they both have experiences visiting the Underworld. Despite these similarities, there are differences between the two characters and it reflects their values and the society they live in. Aeneas relies on his strength as a warrior, where as Odysseus uses his deception to survive which reflects how Aeneas is truly Roman is versus Greek.
In addition, the overall theme of the poem highlighted morality, which was a definitive tenet of Greco Roman civilization. In many ways, Virgil wrote the poem as a means of lauding the moral virtues of Roman society and as a personal challenge to outdo Homer’s epic compositions, The Illiad and The Odyssey. Virgil was successful because he had incorporated many of the same tales shared in the works of Homer into one epic poem which presented a linear storyline in the books that detailed the life and times of Aeneas and the Trojans. That being said, Virgil did not stray far from the approach that many writers had used before him; his primary focus throughout the Aeneid was placed squarely upon the back of idealized Greek and Roman moral principles, which were the dedication to ones’ honor, family, and country. By no means is there anything wrong with this approach, but in many ways, the entire poem could be viewed as a “propaganda” piece; while it might have served to enlighten, educate, and create a cohesive and uplifting story for the Roman populace, the poem lacked depth and a more profound exploration of human intricacies. While Virgil’s epic poem has stood the test of time and remains one of the greatest pieces
In similarity, Hector and Achilles were born in royal family, and they loved their family. They both known as greatest warriors, and that is their fate to be warriors. Hector same as Achilles fight until die for their side, each person has own character made them to be remembered forever. Both of them have pride , glory, and they want everybody to respect them.
In Homer’s The Iliad he tells of the battles and events during the time of a quarrel between King Agamemnon and the warrior Achilles. This was just a small portion of the Trojan War that had lasted ten years. The Iliad shares the ideas of the glory of war, military values over family life, and the impermanence of human life and its creation. One thing that Homer does is characterize the two different warriors Achilles and Hector. These two great warriors both show different kinds of traits that shape the character they become throughout the The Iliad. Achilles is the main hero in The Iliad, but Homer subliminally tries to persuade the reader that Hector is the true hero in this story.
In the poem, Iliad, Achilles and Hector both show relative heroism in their own different ways. Achilles may have been the more popular hero, but Hector had great heroism as well. Each of these characters possess their own different strengths and weaknesses. These two characters both have pride as being one of their main weaknesses. Hector seems as if he would suit best in the modern world, but there are a few different reasons as to why the ancients may have chose Achilles. Hector and Achilles both lost a lot by letting their pride get in the way of their heroism. Both of these characters were their country’s best warrior. Achilles and Hector have very different personalities, and very different ways of approaching situations.