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Essay about Aeneid vs. Odyssey

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Aeneid vs. Odyssey

Both the Odyssey and the Aeneid share some similarities as epics; both describe the trials of a heroic figure who is the ideal representative of a particular culture. There are even individual scenes in the Aeneid are borrowed from the Odyssey. Yet, why are Odysseus and Aeneas so unlike one another? The answer is that the authors lived in two different worlds, whose values and perceptions varied greatly of a fundamental level.

To illustrate, two common ideas woven into the Odyssey are custom and recklessness. Customs were handed down by the gods, and were meant to keep men safe by giving them civilization. When men were reckless (when they flaunted custom and the gods), they invited retribution …show more content…

His eventual passage home has been agreed upon by Zeus, "whose will is not subject to error."1 However, in the past
Odysseus wounded Polyphemos and in reckless abandon questioned the power of the gods; while he was fleeing from the Cyclops he yelled "If I could take your life I would and take your time away, and hurl you down to hell! The god of earthquake could not heal you there!"2 For this affront, Poseidon decided to make Odysseus' journey home a long and difficult one. The god of the sea sends a storm his way but Odysseus survives with the nereid Ino's gift and guidance. After Poseidon departs, he finally reaches Skheria's shore with
Athena's help.

The opening scenes in the Aeneid corresponds to Homer's sequence. Aeneas and the Trojans are on their ships, heading to found a new city after many travails. The eventual founding of the city has been agreed upon by Jupiter, and thus the Trojan's "[d]estiny is unaltered"3 regardless of what calamity befalls them. However, Juno is worried that the Trojans' descendants will eventually surpass the Greeks, "root up her Libyan empire"4, and "enslave the children of Agamemnon"5; so she convinces Aeolus to release to some winds to destroy them now. The winds are so fierce that they need a "heap of mountains
[laid] upon them" and even then "[b]ehind the bars they bellow, mightily fretting: the mountain is one immense murmur."6 Aeolus releases them by pushing his spear at the

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