Comparing and Contrasting the Epics of Homer and Virgil's Aeneid

990 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Virgil's aeneid vs homer's odyssey

Comparing and Contrasting the Epics of Homer and Virgil's Aeneid

Books I and II of Aeneid are an account of Virgil's adventures narrated by him. He includes the actions of the gods in his point of view. The tone of the epic is tragic and sympathetic. Books I-IV is Aeneas wanderings. "In the first half of the epic, Aeneas tells the story of the siege of Troy and his escape, causing Dido to love him. Venus and Juno contrive to isolate Dido and Aeneas in a cave during a hunting trip, and there the two lovers consummate their affair. Aeneas leaves Carthage for Italy at Mercury's prodding, causing the heartbroken Dido to kill herself. "(spark notes) Aeneid is considered a secondary epic more concerned more with duty than his own happiness. There is a simile in Book I of Aeneas as a hunter of deer and in Book IV where he is a figurative hunter of Dido. There are many recurring words in the Aeneid. There are also no repetitions as with Homer.

The are many parallels in the epics of Homer and Virgil. The description of the storm in the Aeneid reminded me of the Odyssey. Aeneas watches as the storm approaches and throws his ship off course. Poseidon, the god of storms at sea, throws Odysseus ship off course many times. Both Aeneid and Odyssey make reference to their mothers. There are also various disguises in both epics.

"Book 1

Aeneas and his Trojans are seven years into their journey home from the Trojan War to Italy when Juno, queen of the gods and arch-enemy of the Trojans, has Aeolus, god of the winds, blow up a violent storm which drives their ships off course. Aeneas, with some of the Trojan fleet, lands in North Africa Aeneas is a nearly broken man, but he pulls himself together and encourages his people.

The scen...

... middle of paper ...

...e ongoing construction of Carthage comes to a halt. Juno and Venus arrange for Dido and Aeneas to have to shelter together overnight in a storm-bound cave. Jupiter sends Mercury, the messenger of the god, to remind Aeneas of his duty to travel on to Italy. Aeneas is miserable, but accepts that he must follow the will of the gods. Dido begs him not to leave her, and ultimately commits suicide as the Trojans set sail, cursing them with her last breath and vowing her people to eternal war with those of Aeneas." (enotes)

Sources Cited and Consulted

Lawall, Sarah The Norton Anthology World Masterpieces Seventh Edition Volume 1 W.W. Norton and Company, Inc. Copyright 1984

Mandelbaum, Allen The Aeneid of Virgil, Bantam Books Publishing,Copyright 1971

http://www.enotes.com/aeneid/4131 (c)2000-2004 eNotes.com LLC

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/aeneid/facts.html

Show More
Related

  • Walt Whitman’s Song of Myself and Alice Fulton’s You Can’t Rhumboogie in a Ball and Chain

    2924 Words  | 6 Pages

    When I read poetry, I often tend to look first at its meaning and second at how it is written, or its form. The mistake I make when I do this is in assuming that the two are separate, when, in fact, often the meaning of poetry is supported or even defined by its form. I will discuss two poems that embody this close connection between meaning and form in their central use of imagery and repetition. One is a tribute to Janis Joplin, written in 1983 by Alice Fulton, entitled “You Can’t Rhumboogie in a Ball and Chain.” The second is a section from Walt Whitman’s 1,336-line masterpiece, “Song of Myself,” first published in 1855. The imagery in each poem differs in purpose and effect, and the rhythms, though created through repetition in both poems, are quite different as well. As I reach the end of each poem, however, I am left with a powerful human presence lingering in the words. In Fulton’s poem, that presence is the live-hard-and-die-young Janis Joplin; in Whitman’s poem, the presence created is an aspect of the poet himself.

    Read More

  • Homelessness in "The Glass Castle"

    1263 Words  | 3 Pages

    Strasser, Judith A., Shirley Damrosch, and Jacquelyn Gaines. Journal of Community Health Nursing. 2. 8. Taylor & Francis, Ltd., 1991. 65-73. Print.

    Read More

  • Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress

    1198 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are many things that most people take for granted. Things people do regularly, daily and even expect to do in the future. These things include eating meals regularly, having a choice in schooling, reading, choice of job and a future, and many more things. But what if these were taken away and someone told you want to eat, where and when to work, what you can read, and dictated your future. Many of these things happened in some degree or another during the Chinese Culture Revolution under Mao Zedong that began near the end of the 1960’s. This paper examines the novel Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie and a book by Michael Schoenhals titled China’s Culture Revolution, 1966-1969. It compares the way the Chinese Cultural Revolution is presented in both books by looking at the way that people were re-educated and moved to away, what people were able to learn, and the environment that people lived in during this period of time in China.

    Read More

  • The Symbolism Of Fire In The Aeneid

    1116 Words  | 3 Pages

    50),” manifests her rage though the physical fire set to the Trojans ships by the women. Juno’s divine wrath against Aeneas stems from two events; the first being Paris choosing Venus as the fairest women compared to Juno and Minerva. The second being the Trojan descendants are fated to destroy Juno’s favorite city, Carthage. Juno understands she cannot stop Aeneas from reaching fated Italy, but she still does everything in her power to make the journey difficult. Juno’s burning rage is most clearly seen when she sends down her messenger, Iris, to convince the Trojan women to burn Aeneas’ fleet. Aeneas and his crew had just landed in Eryx and held festivities to honor Anchises. As the men are distracted by the games, Iris impersonates Beroe and persuades the women to light “burning torches” (V.635) and ignite the ships. The women act on their emotions and are easily persuaded because they want to stop traveling and stay in Eryx. Iris is “the first to seize destroying flame” (V.641) and throw it onto the ships. The women “watched in horror” (V.643-4) but soon join the attack. The “raging fire didn’t slaken” (V.680) until Jupiter intervenes and releases a “rage of pouring rain and thunder” (V.694). Juno’s internal rage is demonstrated though the external fire set by Iris and the women. The destructive fires and the manipulation of the women’s emotions emphasize the rage Juno feels that is only be smothered by Jupiter’s

    Read More

  • The Struggles of Liang Heng in Son of the Revolution

    1190 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Sun of the Revolution by Liang Heng, is intriguing and vivid, and gives us a complex and compelling perspective on Chines culture during a confusing time period. We get the opportunity to learn the story of a young man with a promising future, but an unpleasant childhood. Liang Heng was exposed to every aspect of the Cultural Revolution in China, and shares his experiences with us, since the book is written from Liang perspective, we do not have a biased opinion from an elite member in the Chinese society nor the poor we get an honest opinion from the People’s Republic of China. Liang only had the fortunate opportunity of expressing these events due his relationship with his wife, An American woman whom helps him write the book. When Liang Heng and Judy Shapiro fell in love in China during 1979, they weren’t just a rarity they were both pioneers at a time when the idea of marriages between foreigners and Chinese were still unacceptable in society.

    Read More

  • The Aeneid: Virgil's Heroic Underworld

    3216 Words  | 7 Pages

    Virgil's heroes bear a strong resemblance to the heroes of the earlier works of Homer, however there are some differences that are not merely the result of differences in character. Virgil is depicting his ideals through the traits of his heroes and villains, and some of these traits are different from the Greek traits from The Iliad and The Odyssey. The best way to identify the specific traits that Virgil is trying to plant in the mind of his readers is to look at the main hero, Aeneas. Through Aeneas we see a slightly different variation on the Greek hero. Aeneas is strong and deadly in battle, but fa...

    Read More

  • The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution Analysis

    2190 Words  | 5 Pages

    Gerald Tannenbaum, ‘China’s Cultural Revolution: Why it had to happen’, and Richard Baum, ‘Ideology redivided’, in Baum and Bennet (eds)

    Read More

  • Juno And Dido In The Aeneid

    931 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Am I to admit defeat/ Unable to keep these Trojans and their kings/ From Italy? Forbidden by the Fates, am I?” (1.50-52). Knowing the outcome doesn’t sway the decisions of Juno at all is overcome with rage. It is keen to note that rage is one of the most important themes of The Aeneid and is showed from the poem starts till it ends. Juno and Dido are the two major characters that are affected by this rage. It is Juno who allows Dido to believe that she and Aeneas are married; with hopes that Aeneas would not leave to the build the city of Rome. The intervention of the gods shows how they can easily sway the lives of their mortal men for their own personal desires. For example, when Juno incites rage on the Trojan women allowing them to burn their ships. Virgil clearly shows that aren’t no women of rationality all women are controlled by their emotions. It is clear from the start that Juno is on a man hunt to put an end to the Trojans reign; as result Aeneas becomes a subject of Juno’s rage. Virgil depicts Juno as vengeful Antagonist who tortures a pietious man,

    Read More

  • The Odyssey and the Aeneid by Homer

    698 Words  | 2 Pages

    Two of the most influential books of ancient Roman and Grecian culture are the Odyssey and the Aeneid. The Odyssey is centered on the Greek hero Odysseus. It portrays Odysseus’ journey back home and the endeavors he has to go through. The Aeneid depicts the Roman hero Aeneas as he is sent on a journey to start the great Roman Empire. The books both have many similarities between them especially due to the fact that Virgil, the author of the Aeneid, was heavily influenced by Homer’s Odyssey. But like with any good story they are both unique in their own way. One of the major differences is in the setting. Some of the differences are in the choices that they make while some of the differences are even in the characters themselves. But the parts of the stories that have influenced much of modern day literature are the instances where the protagonists have to make a visit to the underworld. Virgil and Homer wanted to emphasize the underworld so much that they each dedicated an entire chapter in their epics to the underworld. But each underworld is blatantly different thus giving each hero a distinctly different journey to the underworld. Three of the main differences in their underworld journeys are their purpose for being there, visuals in the underworld, and the underworld itself.

    Read More

  • Comparing Aeneas from Aeneid and Gilgamesh from the Epic of Gilgamesh

    539 Words  | 2 Pages

    The trials of Aeneas and Gilgamesh were very similar. Both led tragic lives and suffered from the wrath of the gods. Aeneas witnessed his family die, his home city burned to the ground, and was victim to the goddess Juno’s plots throughout his fated journey to Italy. Gilgamesh had seen his best friend die from the gods’ vengeance and was emotionally crushed by it.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Gun Control

    855 Words  | 2 Pages

    Rivkin, David, and Andrew Grossman. "Gun Control and the Constitution." The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company, 10 Feb. 2013. Web. 17 May 2014.

    Read More

  • Class Struggle in China

    554 Words  | 2 Pages

    Moore, Malcolm, “China Analysis: Cultural Revolution Continues to Cast Shadow,” The Telegraph, March 14, 2012,

    Read More

  • Chinese Art During the Early Empire

    1357 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this essay, I will look at the outpouring of thought, art and literature during the early empire. More so though, I will focus on what factors led to this renewed focus on culture in the early empire. It would seem that there were several factor which would lead to this renewed interest in culture in early China, but the most significant of these factors would be the re-establishment of a strong central government. This re-establishment of a strong central government laid the foundation for cultural growth. It brought with it prosperity to China, through improved infrastructure, such as the canals and graineries. As a result of these improvements, China flourished both economically, militarily and of course culturally. We first must look at some of the history of the centralization of China, which occurred, then was destroyed and then once more established. First by the Han Dynasty, then latter by the Sui and the T'ang

    Read More

  • Compare Aeneas and Odysseus as Heroic Figures

    439 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Parallels between Virgil’s The Aenieid and Homer’s The Odyssey

    829 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Book I, we learn that Aeneas will be facing many obstacles on his journey because Juno (Hera) “in her sleepless rage” does not favor him (1.7). An issue Odysseus also had to deal with. The difference here is, unlike Odysseus who has angered Poseidon by blinding his son, Cyclops, Aeneas has not done anything to provoke this rage. Juno holds a grudge against Paris for not choosing her in a beauty competition against Minerva (Athena) and Venus, “that suffering, still rankled: deep within her, / Hidden away, the judgment Paris gave” (1.39-40). She also knows what is to come of Carthage, “That generations born of Trojan blood [Aeneas] / Would one day overthrow her Tyrian walls,” a city “[Juno] cared more for…/ Than any walled city of the earth” (1.31-32, 24-25). We know that Aeneas is set to build Rome so she will try her hardest to make him fail on his journey. In the case of Odysseus, Athena interc...

    Read More

More about Comparing and Contrasting the Epics of Homer and Virgil's Aeneid

Open Document