Comparative analysis of Homer's Odyssey and Virgil's Aeneid

Odyssey & Aeneid

Homer's Odyssey is a hallmark for epics everywhere, with features from its hero being present in most main characters of epics to follow. Virgil wrote the Aeneid around the beginning of our era and got inspired for his hero from the Odyssey. Both Ulysses (Odysseus) and Aeneis are presented as they undergo a series of incidents while trying to reach their destination.

The Odyssey begins with Odysseus going home after having conquered Troy. In spite of the fact that over ten years had passed since the fall of Troy, Odysseus didn't manage to get home. Because of his prolonged absence, the people of Ithaca consider him to have died during his journey. Moreover, a mob of mal-intended people have gathered in Odysseus's palace with the purpose of courting Penelope, the queen.

Adriana, the young, yet courageous, daughter of Penelope and Odysseus, had been determined to stop the villains from reaching her father's throne. When seeing them she said: "You shall never equal my father as a king, nor you shall you ever equal him as a man."

I've tried everything to get my mother's suitors to leave the royal court, but I haven't succeeded in my attempts. I've also talked to my mother about raising an army of loyal men from Ithaca that would chase all of the suitors from the court. I suspect that Agelaus son of Damastor may be aware of my plan because he is as devious as Greeks when they've tricked the Trojans into thinking that the Trojan horse had been a present for them.

My mother's suitors think that I'm still the innocent girl I've once been, but they don't know that I've learnt the art of war with the help of one of my grandfather's friends. In spite of his age, he moved like an eagle when it chases its prey. Also, he instructed me to go to Pylos and Sparta to seek for information regarding my father's whereabouts. Following his instructions, I headed there and kings Nestor and Menelaus, my father's former war companions, have told me that my father is being kept by Calypso on her island. I know that without a miracle from the gods I won't be able to save my father, nor will I succeed in defeating Ithaca's enemies.

Seeing that my father's suitors were becoming impatient, I devised a cunning plan that would save some more time. I only hope that my father would return in time to stop the suitors from achieving success. An old man has appeared in Ithaca and he seems to know a lot of my father's stories. During our conversation I managed to get him to tell me that my father would come to the court and murder all of those that dared to claim his throne.

Hearing the news, I decided to gather all the suitors in one place by telling them that my mother has decided how she is going to pick her new husband. Eumaeus heard the discussion and said: "Don't listen to this girl, she has gone mad after having lost her father, the queen is not ready to pick a suitor yet!" I couldn't tell Eumaeus about my arrangement as he could have ruined it all.

After all the suitors had gathered in the great hall, I've locked all of the doors so that none could escape my father's revenge. My father appeared, and, as if he knew what my plan had been, he asked me for his armor and for his weapons. Soon enough, the great hall boiled as my father murdered every single one of my mother's suitors.

The story of Aeneis pretty much resembles that of Odysseus and like the Greek hero, the Trojan goes through great efforts until reaching his destination. Homer's influence on the Aeneis is seen clearly across the epic.

However, in an attempt to give a unique touch to the epic, and, also, to adapt it to Roman customs of the period, Virgil goes at endowing Aeneis with an exceptional feature which he presumably leaves to the Roman world: piety.

In the Aeneis, piety is shown under the form of Pietas, a part of Aeneis which makes him act according to his mind, and not according to his heart. During his stay in Charthage, Aeneis falls madly in love with Dido, the queen of Carthage. They fall in love because of a deal which Juno tricked Venus into having. Because of his love for Dido, Aeneis forgets the main purpose of his mission: to reach Italy and to lay the grounds for an empire on the land.