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The Aeneid Vs Odyssey

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Before comparing the actual stories of The Aeneid and The Iliad, one must consider the remarkable success that the two respective stories have received since their origins in ancient Greece and Rome. Homer, author of The Iliad and its famous counterpart The Odyssey, is a legendary figure in history. Some question his actual existence and prefer to regard his two most famous works as stories of oral tradition that were constructed and refined with thousands of retellings by numerous poets over time. Others see Homer as a real man who entertained guests with his witty, complex stories and later had scribes write down his famous words. It will be assumed throughout this paper that Homer did exist for the sake of simplicity. On the other hand, …show more content…

His story, the Aeneid, was subsidized by Augustus during the Pax Romana and published by Augustus shortly following Vergil’s death. This was a controversial, yet essential decision by Augustus. Vergil had ordered his finest work to be destroyed upon his death because of his insistence that the work required almost three more years of editing before it would be ready. Nevertheless, Augustus saw the power of a legendary retelling of Rome’s ancient roots and published it with great success. Translations do not give these two immortal works justice in any sense. Both men wrote with dactylic hexameter which works fine in syllabic languages like Greek and Latin but does not when attempting to translate into English. Thus, modern translators have a predicament of trying to preserve the …show more content…

Despite the major differences between the overall plot of the two books, the final battle scenes are remarkably similar. As with anything, there is always a precursor to the end that informs the audience of the impending crisis that the protagonist will have to face. For the Iliad and the Aeneid, this precursor comes in the form of a shield given by divine powers. Both Achilles and Aeneas were in desperate need of a new shield that would not only offer protection against the strongest spear throwers but also provoke intimidation and wonder. Achilles had given his previous shield to Patrocles and subsequently lost it to looting due to Patrocles’s tragic death. Aeneas, meanwhile, was at the tail end of an epic journey across much of the ancient world. His people had lost almost everything in the sacking of Troy and although he had weapons they were not powerful enough and not worthy enough for the leader of the quest. Both receive shields from divine sponsers. Achilles entreats his mother for help and she convinces the blacksmith Hephaestus to craft a shield which he makes “…large and strong, adorning it with beautiful designs all over” (Iliad 225). The shield depicts all of creation with the sun, moon, and stars in the middle and complex designs of humans and cattle ringing the outside layers. In the Aeneid, Athena begs

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