Similarities Between The Iliad And The Aeneid

The Greeks placed great importance on personal honor. Why is this? Is it because to them man I nothing without honor. Or is it that the honor is more important than the man? "Honor to the Greeks is something that is won by a man's prowess, his ability to fight and be victorious on the battle field"(Schein 62). This is just one example of how honor is obtained. A second method of gaining honor is to be a great orator, one must posses the ability to speak in the assembly and express his ideas eloquently, and persuasively to the gathered body. A third way of achieving personal honor is to demonstrate athletic ability.

The great talents that Achilles’ possesses cause him to become much admired and well known by both the Greeks and the Trojans. He begins to believe all the good things people are say and becomes an arrogant, child-like, selfish person which all mark Achilles’ hubris part of his behavior cycle. Achilles shows his arrogance when he gets angry with Agamemnon for him wanting take his prize of honor, which Achilles worked very hard to get. Because of this, Achilles begins to lose his capability to think straight and weigh all the factors in situations, and withdraws himself from the battle. Later on after Achilles overcomes the death of his best friend and regains back his courage and pride, Achilles kills Hector and thinks he is invincible for doing the great deed he did. Achilles fought Hector for honor over all else and performed the death of Hector almost as a duty and feels proud of himself for doing so. Before he kills Hector, Achilles declares, “I will go forth to slay Hector, who killed the man the I loved… Until then, may I win great fame and glory, and may every Trojan realize that the greatest of the Greeks no longer remains apart from battle”(145).

Socrates’ primary motivation for comparing himself to Achilles, the best of all the classic heroes, is to convince the jury of his Achillean heroism. One attribute of a hero according to the events of the Iliad is that one must either kill or be killed in the pursuit of honor. Correspondingly, the Iliad chronicles Achilles’ life and death on the natural path to heroism. Despite the

The Ancient Greeks idealized and worshiped their heroes, this is portrayed in Homer’s epic poem, The Iliad. To become a hero in ancient Greece, one would have to live and die in pursuit of glory and honor. Both Achilles and Hector seek victory in battle to become the “true hero.” Although both characters possess many hero-like qualities, Hector proved to be the genuine hero.

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.

Warriors of ancient Greece were considered heroes by following the Heroic Code of excellence. They achieved this by acquiring a kleos; establishing fame, glory and a positive reputation. It was not an easy task to become a Grecian hero. Building and maintaining kleos meant that a warrior must be brave and strong, be “a speaker of words and a doer of deeds.” The solider had to protect his friends and harm his enemies, respect the gods and his elders, and most of all value his honor over his life. To die in battle, and be spoken of after death was the most important act of honor for a hero. The Greek tragedy, Iliad, attributed to Homer, portrays Achilles as the most gallant hero of the Athenian army. The story tells of Achilles, who develops into the greatest hero of the Trojan War. While the end of the end of the poem does portray Achilles as the solider that the story foretells throughout the poem he does not act like that. Many times in the story Achilles actions are perceived as unheroic but ultimately they shape the course of the few weeks of the Trojan Wars described in the Iliad, the Achaean’s final victory at Troy and his emergence as a hero.

Both the Odyssey and the Aeneid represent their cultures very well, but they express different ideas on what one should strive for in life.  There are also different forces that pushed both epics to be written.  The Aeneid expresses the Roman idea of pietas which means to show extreme respect for one’s ancestors. We see this in Aeneas when he is pictured caring his father away from burning Troy.  He has pietas because he cared so much for his father that in fleeing from Troy he took up his father over his shoulder to save his from certain death.  This is not the only major idea in the Aeneid.  There is also a very political focus.  The Roman were very interested in politics which comes through in the Aeneid. The Odyssey has the Greek

In Virgil’s poem, The Aeneid, the ideal Roman hero is depicted in the form of Aeneas. Not only does Aeneas represent the Roman hero, but he also represents what every Roman citizen is called to be. Each Roman citizen must posses two major virtues, he must remain pious, and he must remain loyal to the Roman race. In the poem, Aeneas encompasses both of these virtues, and must deal with both the rewards and costs of them.

“The Aeneid” and “The Iliad” are relatively two different epics that were written decades apart. However, they have their similarities. These are two epics with the fate of two heroes. In the epic “The Aeneid,” the readers follow the journey of a man named Aeneas who is a Trojan refugee who journeys from his homeland of Troy to find Rome for the generations of the future. “The Iliad” is a story of the Trojan War and the hero of the story Achilles. Achilles was one of the bravest soldiers of the Greek army, but he was just as vain as he was brave. Both heroes showed a great amount of heroic actions throughout their perspective epics. Aeneas kills the Latin warrior Turnus and ventures away from his burning Troy to find Rome and prepare it for the future generations to come. Achilles fights for the Greeks which eventually results in him dying a hero’s death.

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.

Virgil’s Aeneid, tells the story of the founding of Rome. It follows the last of the Trojan’s who escaped the fate of Troy. Troy eventually falls following Homer’s The Iliad, and Virgil continues the story of their people. The Trojans are not, however, the only similarity between the two books. Virgil employs many of the same image patterns that Homer uses in The Iliad. The symbolism of fire, shields, and gates are used in both epic poems.

Throughout the entire Trojan war, Achilles spent most of his time pouting in his tent after Agamemnon kidnapped his prized maiden, Chryseis. He also lets his best friend, Patroclus, go into battle alone only to die when Hector kills him with his spear. Achilles joins the war when he hears of Patrclus death, but it was not out of bravery; out of guilt, revenge and anger, when he hears of his friend's death. When Achilles kills Hector, he binds his feet to his chariot and drags his body around the walls of Troy. In my opinion this was not an act of heroism. But in the Iliad the Greeks loved Achilles. Achilles was considered half mortal and half God. Achilles has all the characteristics of a heroic warrior on a grand scale, and he possesses more than a common measure of all the merits and all the faults of a hero (Bowra 193). All of Achilles traits and glory are won primarily in battle, which sets Achilles apart from Hector because Achilles knows little about home and family. He has no wife: his father he has not seen in years; his mother, even though she helps him but he cannot help her and she isn't even a human being (Bowra 194).

Achilles has been considered the greatest hero of the Greeks in the Iliad for numerous valid reasons. Similarly, Achilles not only stays humble, but extremely courageous. Waiting patiently for Hector, Achilles says, “No man so long as I am alive above Earth… and see daylight shall lay the weight even if you mean Agamemnon.” (1.88-90) In this statement, Achilles says that no one should ever have power over him. “So, must one be called of no account and a coward if I must carry out every order you may happen to give me….” (6.293-303) Clearly, he fears no one and does not understand the meaning of failure. Achilles constantly acts as man of fierce strength and courage.

Achilles’ sinful desire for glory ended up killing him, his comrades, and his reputation. Achilles spent the majority of the battle withdrawn from the fight and moping, so when he eventually ended up dying there was nothing particularly noble or glorious about it. If, however, Achilles had gone out heroically and risked his life at the beginning of the battle as he fought alongside his comrades, he could have died in battle and had people remember him as one of the greatest Greek heroes that ever lived. Achilles had three main faults in his personality that ruined his chance at glory. First, because of his selfishness, Achilles kept making choices that benefited himself and nobody else, which is in stark contrast with the selfless mindset required of a hero. Second, because of his pride, Achilles withdrew from the battle and stubbornly refused to fight, which resulted in the deaths of countless comrades. Finally, Achilles’ anger towards Agamemnon kept Achilles from fighting, allowing the Trojans to win many battles. When Achilles finally died in The Odyssey, he was merely making up for his wrong attitude earlier in the war. He was not fighting in order that he might protect and save his comrades. That, therefore, is why it was not at all noble of him to want to die for glory.

be looked at as "the wife of Hektor, who was ever the bravest fighter of