Fate and Destiny in the Aeneid and the Odyssey Essay

The greatest heroic tail of all time the Odyssey, by Homer. The Odyssey is a clear example of Cosmic Irony because, The main character odysseus is controlled by a powerful god or fate, odysseus falsely believes in his own free will, the god toys with the main character, and the character’s end is ultimately tragic.

Dido first falls in love with Aeneas after being infected by Cupid at Venus’ command. When Cupid first arrives in Carthage, disguised as Ascanius, Dido watches him from afar as he interacts with deceived Aeneas. As she watches, she becomes entranced with the sight and “the more she looks the more the fire grows,” signaling that Cupid’s hold over her has grown stronger (853,71). Aeneas’ tale of woe only strengthens her adoration of him until she is “consumed by the fire buried in her heart” (3, 127). Tentative thoughts of remarrying after her husband Sychaeus’ death begin to cross her mind and she finally recognizes the “old flame” that is slowly consuming her, suddenly marrying Aeneas one night (30, 128). Yet this fire is short lived and, ultimately, Dido’s downfall. Jove grows anxious for Aeneas to continue on his journey and commands Mercury to pass along the message that Aeneas and the Trojans must leave Carthage. Aeneas pleads with Dido that he leaves not of his own volition and that he must obey the gods’ wishes, but Dido is furious, alternating between pleading with him to stay and cursing him should he go. Firm in his decision, Aeneas returns to his ships while Dido is brought to her chambers. Grief stricken and “fixed on dying,” Dido begins to construct a funeral pyre in her courtyard (595, 144). As she stands before her creation, she laments her choice to trust Aeneas and the Trojans when

Homer's great literary classic, The Odyssey, represents and illustrates many emotional and mental values. All of these values can be classified under three different main themes that are constant throughout the epic tale. These themes are: A boy's struggle to be a man, a king's struggle to reclaim his kingdom, and a man's struggle to return home. As one reads this book it will become more and more evident to them that a man's struggle to get home is the most important theme throughout Homer's adventure.

During Odysseus’s journey in The Odyssey, his own guile, the gods’ obstacles and their assistance for him affected his destiny. Odysseus uses his crafty sense of trickery and guile to get out of situations, which allow him to reach his destiny of returning home. Many times in The Odyssey the gods who dislike Odysseus set obstacles to try to stop him from returning home. However, there are gods who favor him and give him assistance to reach his homeland of Ithaca.

In book nine: the Cyclops fate is demonstrated; these are the times you see that the gods take action in Odysseus life. Odysseus is talking to the terrifying Cyclops; Odysseus is explaining to the Cyclops how fate has brought them to his island. Odysseus says on page 116 lines 159 thru 163. “We are Achemans…took the wrong route as Zeus I suppose instead that we should.” Odysseus says that he

Free will and fate are both prominent in the Odyssey. In the Odyssey, free will is depicted whenever characters make decisions. In example, Odysseus blinds the Cyclops, Polyphemus. Fate, in the Odyssey, is the consequences that are dealt out due to certain actions. In the case of Odysseus and Polyphemus, the consequence is that when Odysseus is on a ship heading home to reach Ithaca, Poseidon, being the father of Polyphemus, sends a storm at Odysseus being angry that Odysseus blinded his son. In that scenario, Odysseus makes the decision to blind Polyphemus to escape, and in turn, the consequence is that Poseidon attempts to hit him with a storm in the sea. The contrasting themes of

Both the Odyssey and the Aeneid describe the journeys of the two Greek heroes –Odysseus and Aeneas, as they struggle towards their goal through the crises and deadly situations caused by the wrath of the gods upon them. In the Odyssey, we see that Poseidon (god of the sea/earth shaker) has a grudge against Odysseus while Athena, god of wisdom, aids him throughout his journey. Similarly in the Aeneid, we see that goddess Juno dislikes Aeneas as he is destined to destroy the city of Carthage loved by Juno during his mission to find a new land- Rome, whereas Aeneas’ mother Venus aids him.

Homer disregards personal responsibility by showing how the gods take care of everything for Odysseus. It was ultimately Athena who begged Zeus to let Odysseus go home by saying

The function of prophecy manifests itself in many ways in the Aeneid. Throughout the epic, prophecies and omens act as the agents behind Aeneas fulfilling his destiny as well as providing clear social commentary on the dawn of the Roman Empire under Emperor Augustus. Even though not all of the prophecies and omens included in the epic come to pass in literary terms, Virgil’s inclusion of prophecy is of paramount importance for driving the plot forward. In this essay I will discuss the function of both internal and external prophecy and the effect these prophecies have on both the characters in the epic and the enjoyment of the reader from The Roman Empire until the present day.

     A comparison between Virgil's hero, Aeneas, and the Homeric heroes, Achilles and Odysseus, brings up the question concerning the relevance of the difference between the Homeric heroes and Aeneas. The differences in the poets' concerns are explained by the fact that Virgil lived many years after Homer, giving Virgil the advantage of a more developed literary and philosophical society than Homer had at his disposal. But the question remains: how are the differences between the Homeric heroes and Aeneas relevant to the epic at large? This question will be answered by first pointing out the differences between Greek and Roman society, then explaining

This edict of Zeus summarizes the journey Odysseus makes in order to return home. He endures dire hardships to make the journey home, yet he still chooses to continue forward. Although Odysseus accepts this hardship as a mere speed bump, many people today would not prevail through such adversity. A knack for finding the easy way out has seemed to blossom as the one uniform skill possessed by most young people today. With today’s technology, a person rarely spends an afternoon by himself, and if so, would not like it. With this in mind, choosing to continue on with the journey in present times would be much harder of a decision to make than in ancient times.

He thinks about others before himself; he takes responsibility for his men and wants to protect them even if it means risking his own life. He demonstrated god-like qualities and morals to inspire his men. Odysseus is arrogant, brave, and wise, however he is sentimental. He states that, “Sometimes you need to serve in order to lead” (Odysseus). Odyssey has done his job after defeating the Trojans, so the reason why he went to war was to encourage liege lord, Agamemnon, and now that it is over, he can return to Ithaca.

In this essay, I will examine popular Greek ideas concerning fate and their relationship to characters in Homer's Odyssey.

Later, Aeneas decides to return to the path molded for him: “in spite of all he obeys the gods’ commands and back he goes to his ships.” (Virgil, p. 141) Aeneas ignores his passion for Dido and continues on his path of obligation to Troy. It was not the decision of the gods, nor the doing of fate; Aeneas’ decisions are his own. However, if Aeneas would have strayed towards his desires, he would have continuously ended up within the line of his destiny because regardless of our wants we ultimately walk within the parameters Fate allows. Virgil

Despite the nuanced view that many people often hold about fate, a clear analysis of the Aeneid indicates that life is determined by some supernatural powers who dictate our fate. Aeneas actions, particularly his decision to leave Dido, are underscored by fate; everything he strives to do seems to fail due to fate not being in his side and should instead have opted to stay with Dido to keep the hopes of a bright future alive.