Similarities Between The Odyssey And The Aeneid

While both Virgil and Homer molded older myths and legends into their own great epics, the messages portrayed by their characters couldn’t be more different. The Odyssey was composed for the wealthy of Homer’s time. The oral tradition was used to flatter any wealthy patron in attendance, but this did not interfere with the overall plot and message of the poem. The story itself is about a man and his journey home. Once he has reached Ithaca that is really the end of the story. There is no mention of greater glory after Odysseus, because the Odyssey focuses on the tangible and wonderful things in life such as love, home, war, sex, revenge, justice, wealth, and greed. Conversely, the Aeneid was written as a means to glorify Augustus and the Roman Empire. Aeneas is just a vehicle for the discussion of fate, gods, religion, and the overall superiority and greatness of Rome. This distinction between the glory of man and the glory of an empire is
For example, Aeneas meets Deiphobus, Helen’s second Trojan husband. He is covered in wounds given to him by the Greeks (Aen. 6.573-578). By having most of his wounds concentrated on his face, Virgil is showing the connection between sight and fear. This comparison also appears later on in the Aeneid when Agamemnon and Achilles, two great Greek warriors, see Aeneas flee out of fear of his immense strength. By comparison, in the Odyssey Odysseus also encounters Agamemnon and Achilles but instead of running in terror they stand strong and hold a conversation with Odysseus as equals. Through this slight difference from the Odyssey, Virgil argues that the Romans are a people to be feared and coward away and because Odysseus is able to stand and talk with the Greek soldiers, it also shows that the Romans are far superior to the Greeks in