He becomes a greater hero because he is only human and yet he accomplishes many things. From going to and through the underworld to mustering up great courage to fight and carry on, Aeneas is a revered hero because he is human and, to this, we can relate. 5. Virgil writes the Aeneid because he has something to say about the hero of the story. The Aeneid also depicts other significant factors that influenced first century Roman life and seeks to the meaning of Roman life in general. Virgil also tells a tale of history and the human heart with the Aeneid. The story remains popular because of this aspect of humanity.

6. There is a general sense of hatred for the Greeks because they defeated Aeneas' country and everything in which he and his countrymen believed. The correlation between the Aeneid and the Odyssey is impressive because of the common threads of history that each story reveals. Virgil's vision is demonstrated through Aeneas' journeys and experiences. The influence of Homer's great epics allows us to understanding the Aeneid in a way that is important because of the historical context of each narrative. Here we see that Virgil was not afraid to borrow from one...

This has no bearing on what Virgil thought about what the Homeric epics had to say. Chaos, religion, gods, and goddesses were all a part of both writer's culture and similarities are bound to overlap.
7. The hatred that existed between the Greeks and the Trojans stems from the fact that the Greeks defeated the Romans and Virgil wanted to emphasize this in a different way in which Homer did. For many, the cause of the Punic Wars could be seen as the result of Dido's curse.

8. Aeneas leaves Carthage the way he does because he is too weak to face Dido. This is not necessarily a poor reflection on Rome as it is mankind as it is the character of Aeneas. Again, we are witnessing how Virgil wishes to portray Aeneas as a human being rather than a superhero or demigod because it allows him to express his message that human beings can achieve and succeed if they strive to do so.

Works Cited

Virgil, the Aeneid. Allen Mandelbaum, trans. New York: Bantam Classics Books. 1981.

Homer. The Odyssey. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. New York W.W. Norton and Company. 1997. pp. 100-336.