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The odyssey iliad and the aeneid
The odyssey iliad and the aeneid
Comparison between the Aeneid and the Odyssey
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Virgil’s The Aeneid, to this day, remains one of the most influential epics to ever grace the merciless limitations of manuscript, inspiring, in pop culture as well as literature, an onslaught of themes, mythology, values, and the general sense of what a hero must be-or do- in order to overcome the obstacles of the gods and man. Written somewhere between 29 and 19 BC, consisting of twelve books (although never completely finished), The Aeneid takes us through the turbulent journeys and prophesied triumphs of Aeneas, a warrior and man bound by piety and destiny. Like usual, in every great epic, there are many battles: heads gashed open and gore galore; however, to say that this master piece is just for men would be atrocious, considering that Venus, Aeneas’s mother (the goddess of hunt, extremely beautiful), plays a major role in the book from beginning to end, but, although women are portrayed as a symbol of strength (most of the time, at least), one cannot ignore the invocation to the muse at the very beginning: “I sing of arms and of the man” (3). Through the wars, travels, monsters, and grief that awaits our protagonist, I feel that the relationship between Aeneas and Dido, the queen of Carthage, holds special relevance in my life, for I have loved and lost as well, but one thing may surprise you, I have seen it through the eyes of Dido, not Aeneas. Fortunately, for me, I didn’t have to sacrifice myself, but I did learn to love, relish it, and then, sadly, let it go.
Early in the beginning of the poem we see Aeneas, surrounded by blood thirsty Greeks, trying to save his family-fighting as well-and, after an apparition of Hector pleas with him to leave, eve...
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...er allowing his life to interfere with his destiny, if indeed he truly believed in it, for judging by his master piece, I must simply believe that he, in all of his expert wisdom on battle and virtue, failed to understand the complications of love and passion. As a man who has lost much, constantly pondering the ambiguity of love, I cannot deny that the road to happiness is a long, uncertain path, but, just like my loss of companionship, I can’t help but to think what would have happened if Aeneas would have just forsaken his path and cradled Dido until the grave, yet one cannot deny the fate of passion, in all of its uncertainties and unseen truths.
Works Cited
Virgil. The Aeneid. London: Penguin, 1991.
Initially Virgil invests in Dido and Camilla the potential to be great leaders. He describes Dido as a great stateswoman. She rules her city as a female-King, overseeing its building and preparing it for war. Venus relates to Aeneas how... ... middle of paper ... ...
At the orders of Jupiter, Mercury is sent down in Book Four of the Aeneid to remind Aeneas of his true fate for Aeneas had fallen in love with Dido and was content to stay in the fertile lands of Carthage, The messenger god mocks and scolds Aeneas for forgetting his duties, especially to his son, Ascanius. As a result of this, Aeneas finally decides to leave Dido and depart Carthage, although he fears losing the queen’s love and her wrath. This demonstrates that he is incredibly pious (as to choose the wishes of the gods over his own love) and that he is noble for attempting to leave Dido as gently as he can. In addition, he displays his admirable hero qualities and commitment to paternal duty in this section.
For the Greeks, Homer's Odyssey was much more than just an entertaining tale of gods, monsters, and men, it served as cultural paradigm from which every important role and relationship could be defined. This book, much more so than its counter part The Iliad, gives an eclectic view of the Achean's peacetime civilization. Through Odyssey, we gain an understanding of what is proper or improper in relationships between father and son, god and mortal, servant and master, guest and host, and--importantly--man and woman. Women play a vital role in the movement of this narrative. Unlike in The Iliad, where they are chiefly prizes to be won, bereft of identity, the women of Odyssey are unique in their personality, intentions, and relationship towards men. Yet, despite the fact that no two women in this epic are alike, each--through her vices or virtues-- helps to delineate the role of the ideal woman. Below, we will show the importance of Circe, Calypso, Nausicaa, Clytaemestra, and Penelope in terms of the movement of the narrative and in defining social roles for the Ancient Greeks.
Dido is portrayed as a strong and independent character through her successful founding and ruling of Carthage. However, Venus commands Cupid to “breathe [his] flame of poison” (I. 688) on Dido. Dido develops a passion that is “an unseen flame gnaw[ing]” (IV.2) at her. The flame illustrates the intense emotions Dido feels for Aeneas. Aeneas and Dido consummate their love in a cave, causing Dido to assume they are married. Unfortunately for Dido, Aeneas must follow his fate to Italy and leave Dido in Carthage. “Now [Dido] must called [Aeneas] guest instead of husband” (IV. 324). However, Aeneas declares he “never made a pack of marriage” (IV.339) with Dido. This fuels her hatred of him even more. Dido does not have the emotional stability to live without Aeneas. During his confession, Dido admits “hot madness” (IV.376) consumes her and the connections between fire and fury is
We also see in the story what someone must sacrifice in order to fulfill their goals. Though Aeneas's destiny was much more grand than many of our own, we still must make choices that can sometimes hurt others. I really thought that Vergil captured our inner emotions with the affair between Dido and Aeneas.
One of the main female characters that Virgil uses to present political problems is Dido. Before the arrival of Aeneas, Dido is portrayed as a strong and confident leader. She loses her husband Sychaeuds and has to flee from Tyre by herself. She is able to establish her own city of Carthage and increase the security to protect the city with her intelligence. Moreover, she is an independent and resolute woman because she refuses all of the marriage offers from neighboring cities in order to remain loyal to her dead husband; ‘‘I shall allow no difference between the Tyrian and the Trojan. Would your king, Aeneas, too, were present, driven here by that same south wind. I, in fact, shall send my trusted riders out along the shores’’(Book I, line 809-812). The way she speaks shows how powerful she is and that she is able to lead the nation on her own. However, after the arrival of Aeneas, ‘‘the queen is caught between love’s pain and press’’(Book IV, line 1-
As the souls await reincarnation, they resemble “bees in tranquil summer meadows / Who move from bud to vivid bud and stream / Around white lilies--the whole field whirs loudly” (VI,707-9). Much like his reaction to the bustle of Carthage, Aeneas is “enthralled” by the scene (VI,710). However, the aimless group of souls sharply contrasts with the organized, dedicated citizens of Carthage. Without a purpose or leader guiding them, the souls simply “whir” aimlessly awaiting rebirth. Perhaps this lack of purpose provides an answer to Aeneas’ inquiry as to why these souls wish to return to the land of the living (IV,719-20). Just as bees cannot prosper without belonging to a hive, the souls of men demand they be a part of an enterprising, organized community. Thus, Virgil concludes that men long for the kind of organized society bees have, strengthening his contention that individuals find purpose in belonging to the
Not only does Virgil present women as completely vulnerable to their emotions, but he also shows the problems that arise when these women engage in decisions where they put their own feelings ahead of their people. Virgil explicitly shows women neglecting important responsibilities when he describes passages concerned with Dido’s affair and her death, the Trojan women burning their own ships, Queen Amata’s opposition to Latinus’s proposal and her tragic death. Once Dido falls in love with Aeneas, Virgil uses a simile to describe the wound that Dido suffers from. The flame keeps gnawing into her tender marrow hour by hour, and deep in her heart the silent wound lives on. Dido burns with love—the tragic queen.
The image of a powerful spinning wind also indicates the great grief Aeneas is feeling from the death of Pallas. He has translated his grief into vengeful feelings, and is ,thus, an intimidating enemy on the battlefront. The comparison of Aeneas’ actions to something of nature is also an important item to note. Only the gods, not mortal men such as Aeneas, can create natural phenomenons such as a torrent or black whirlwind. Yet Aeneas is compared to this immortal creation, which, in turn, creates fear in a certain immortal: Juno. In fact, upon seeing Aeneas’ great rage, Juno fears for the death of her beloved Turnus to the point that she requests permission from Jupiter to intervene and protect her favorite warrior. Overall, this simile, although short in length, is able to produce an effect that causes the war to take a turn of
Aeneas feels great pride and energy regarding his role in history and is anxious to continue on his journey. The gods are trying to convince Aeneas to value duty to his city and family, a kind of affiliation or relation by virtue of descent as-if from a parent, above duty to a lover by mere affiliation, or arbitrary association. This perspective on an appeal to authority still hinges on a relationship between Aeneas' desire for affiliation and public authority as the authority of filial priority. We learn early on in this epic that Aeneas is a very important character because of his divine parentage. After all, his mother is the Goddess Venus and his father's brother was the King of Troy.
Though it is easier to consider The Aeneid as a work which clearly defines the roles of man and woman, with men upholding traits of stability, rationality, and containment of oneself, with the women acting irrational and without jurisdiction, this is not quite the case. Gender is not quite the cookie cutter structure one is accustomed to, instead it acts as a much more complicated force within the interactions of the characters. The masculine and feminine become combined within individuals, blended to the point where perhaps sometimes understanding a character is far more complicated than knowing whether it is a 'he' or'she'. Virgil connects femininity with hysterical passion and masculinity, an accomplished restraint of self. Due to this, women are often the conflict makers and men the solvers.
... attempts they do just the opposite. With Venus’ many interventions, Aeneas is prevented from making mistakes and is guided to his fate, from not killing Helen [book 2] to leaving behind the old and the weak for Italy [book 4] . He is shown enough times to be the puppet of their play: from obeying the will of the gods while enduring the wrath of other gods, all this in order to set the wheels in motion for the far off future Roman race. However, there are also times when he is also shown to be exerting his won free will. For example, in book 12, killing Turnus when he is begging for mercy, something not heroic and which Susanna Braund debates the positive and negative aspect of in her essay on Virgil and the Meaning of the Aeneid [1.17-18]. nonetheless, this act demonstrates that even the gods and the fates require his cooperation to fulfil his destiny.
Odysseus’ journey is one that features much emotional pain. Pain for being away from his home, wife and son, but in Aeneas’ journey he is a warrior, and he goes through physical pain. Unlike Odysseus, Aeneas begins his journey after the Greeks have burned his home to the ground. He does not have the pleasure of long comfortable “holdups” Odysseus has and he also has to deal with his father dying—the ultimate blow.
When discussing the fate of Aeneas, a thought provoking question is posed that is commonly debated. If Aeneas is commanded by fate, does he have free will? It is important to approach this question with a solid understand of fate. There are two common sides to the debate of whether Aeneas had free will or not. One view believes Aeneas had no choice but to follow his destiny because he was commanded by fate, and prophesied to found the race that will one day build Rome. The other side states Aeneas did indeed have free will, and even though his fate was set, room is available within his fate for events to change. One can argue Aeneas makes some of his own choices, but no particular detail of his life is untouched. Destiny determines that the Trojans will found a city in Italy, but it does not stipulate how that will happen. This is where room is left for free will. After much research and considering the views of many commentators and the proof they showed, the answer can simply be found by going back to the text of The Aeneid.
“The Dido-Aeneas Relationship: A Re-Examination” is a written by T. R. Bryce. Bryce’s argument is that Dido would not have loved Aeneas at all had she not been shot by Cupid’s arrow. Her actions toward Aeneas before being influenced by Cupid, he says, were characteristic of any powerful ruler. The queen saw a potential ally in Aeneas, and treated him as such. Dido would not have been completely mad about how much she loved Aeneas, and would not have been throwing herself at him as many times as she had before. After her husband was murdered, she vowed that she would never marry or lay with another man, and she stood firm in that promise up until her fateful encounter with our epic hero. When Venus became aware of how Juno was sabotaging Aeneas,