The Aeneid And The Odyssey

Homer is one of the greatest epic poets and his legendary status was well established by the time of Classical Athens. He composed two major works, the Iliad and the Odyssey; which were originally in oral form before it was later converted to a written format. Though there were other works that were attributed to him but were disputed. Homer acts as a major source of information for the Greeks and their gods. Homer is the earliest poet in Western culture whose works have survived.

Many have deemed Homer and Hesiod the “founding fathers” of Greek epic poetry and philosophical writings. Both writers’ careers flourished around 8th century B.C, and were immense influences in the world of Greek philosophy. Hesiod focuses on more traditional origins of life for his stories and ensures that the creation of the world and its rulers are embodied in his works. Homer has been considered one of the most influential philosophical writers for centuries by recognized philosophers. He wrote about principles in battle, governance, counsel, sports, the home and life in general that the Greeks looked to in praise. While both of the authors were similar in writing style, they differ vastly in the messages of their poems.

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.

As humans, we are always imagining what our lives will be like when we die. While the depictions of what hell or heaven may be from the ancient times and now, what has stayed consist is the idea of an afterlife altogether.

The Odyssey is a folk epic poem that picks up at the end of another folk epic poem titled The Iliad. Homer, who is said to be a blind poet, has been credited with writing both of these works, however it is believed that the stories of The Iliad and The Odyssey were told verbally for many centuries and Homer happened to be the one who took the opportunity to write them down. Due to it being written centuries ago, The Odyssey uses classical diction that seems odd in modern-day language. The diction used in The Odyssey presents a laudatory tone throughout the poem.

While reading this poem, the reader can identify many archetypes. There are the heroes, the villains, the wise teachers and many more. Numerous themes and ideas are portrayed throughout this poem, it is the basis of which all other books model themselves after. “The Odyssey” was written by Homer in 720 BC, known as the Bronze Age. It is an Epic that tells the story of a father, Odysseus, who goes through many trials and adventures In order to be reunited with his Wife Penelope, and Son Telemachus.

     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

In the Hebrew Bible and The Odyssey there are heroic figures that play an important role through out each of the books. These heroic figures from the Bible and The Odyssey have many similarities and differences that reflect the different cultures they are from. These heroes are called upon by greater beings, such as gods, to complete difficult journeys and or tasks that the god has made them destined to complete. Each of these legendary heroes demonstrates a particular culture’s needs. Through these journeys and or tasks they are forced to overcome challenging obstacles and make sacrifices.

In The Iliad and The Odyssey, Homer has different portrayals of the roles that women play in each epic. These differences are so striking that some readers have even argued that there is a possibility that a woman could have created The Odyssey, modeled after Homer’s Iliad. In The Iliad we see women represented as war prizes and slaves, vulnerabilities to men, and in positions of limited power. In The Odyssey however, we see women capturing men and keeping them as prizes, rising from a status of limited power to dominating their household, and breaking free of the constraints of the “typical” household woman stereotype. We even see them making their own decisions and challenging their husbands. By comparing and contrasting these epic women

the gods; while he was fleeing from the Cyclops he yelled "If I could take

Long ago, there were two powerful nations located in southern Europe. First there were the Greeks, this nation was known for the first practice of democracy. Other than democracy, during the Greeks era there was a man by the name Homer who wrote a story called The Odyssey about a great legendary hero named Odysseus. After the Greeks, then came the Romans who ruled Greece for centuries. The Romans during their time were known to have practiced and used many of the Greeks cultures and theories. There was a Roman named Virgil who wrote about the beginning of the Romans. He created a story called The Aeneid; this story was about a Trojan who escaped a losing war to find a new home and peace. Even though these two stories may be hard to understand, Homer and Virgil are making statements about their nation after the Trojan War, because Odysseus was a legendary Greek king and Aeneas of Troy was known to be a beginning of the Romans.

Homer and Ovid are two of the oldest, most influential poets that have ever lived. Although they are both poets, they have several differences in their writings. Homer, a Greek poet, is most famous for his epic poems Iliad and Odyssey. Ovid, a Roman poet, is most famous for Metamorphoses a 15 book poem containing over 250 myths. To compare and contrast these two poets and their writing styles, I will use Achilles’ battle with Hector in Homer’s Iliad book 22 and compare it with Achilles’ battle with Cycnus in Ovid’s Metamorphoses book 12. The comparison of these battles will give us a better understanding of these poets different views on the Trojan War.

Homer, an ancient Greek epic poet, influenced many writers in the ancient Greek and Roman culture, particularly Virgil. Virgil, most famous for his epic poem The Aeneid demonstrates Homer’s influence through similar characters, mythology, and ideals. Homer in both his most famous works the Iliad and The Odyssey weaves poetry based on centuries worth of oral stories handed down and uses a sophisticated style of writing that is still recognized today. Although the tragic hero is defined slightly differently in modern text than ancient Greek and Roman works, Aristotle defined a tragic hero in his work Poetics as “the character between these two extremes,-that of a man who is not eminently good

Virgil was Rome’s unwilling epic poet, he gave the Roman people a cohesive narrative that tied them to the past and propelled them towards the future. This narrative, The Aeneid, had its basis in local lore as well as ties to the older Greek epics of Homer. The Aeneid almost functions as an extension of The Iliad and Odyssey, with its protagonist, Aeneas, being a minor figure in the earlier poems, and the work itself academically divided into “Odyssean” and “Iliadic” parts. In this relationship Virgil owes a creative debt to Homer, and there is a resemblance that can be seen with striking clarity when the experiences of Homers’ Odysseus and Virgil’s Aeneas are examined side by side. Odysseus and Aeneas are both honour bound to reach the destinations of their respective journeys, Odysseus to rule Ithaca and Aeneas to found Rome, and while ones journey often mirrors the others, there are significant differences between the two. The major differences that can be observed lie in their characters and forms of heroism and these variations shape the course of their narratives, yet the similarities of their internal journeys and ultimate fates remain intact.

The ancient Greeks and Romans contributed to western civilization in many different forms of literature and architecture. Both of these cultures produced a variety of literary works which are still studied today. One of the biggest contributions to literature was from the author known as Homer. Homer was known for two of ancient Greece’s most epic poems, The lliad and The Odyssey. Both of these poems have had a profound impact on western literature and continue to influence teachers and authors today. “The lliad and The Odyssey have provided not only seeds but fertilizer for almost all the other arts and sciences in