The New Hero of Aeneas Essay

Anger can always incite irrational actions. The sight of Helen seeking shelter at the altar, causes Aeneas to remember the crimes she committed driving him to furious anger. This anger drives him to contemplate an ignoble and uncharacteristic act of revenge by murdering Helen as she sought protection from the gods. Despite being depicted as a virtuous hero, Aeneas’ strong, visceral reaction to seeing Helen shows that he is subject to the same passionate feelings all humans feel, especially when something raises his anger.

Many think being a hero is having super powers, but on the contrary it's more than that. A hero is one who is distinguished for their courage and bravery, and looked upon for their great deeds. A hero like this is not just found in modern society today, but in mythology as well. In the epic poem The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus earns the title of a true hero by conveying many qualities such as: determination, courage and leadership.

A hero accepts who he is as an individual, but strives to change himself for the better. In the epic poem, The Odyssey, by Homer, the main character Odysseus is a valiant king who embarks on a life-changing voyage. While traveling from Troy back to his home in Ithaka, King Odysseus overcomes daunting obstacles, and in doing so discovers his place in the world. Odysseus is truly a heroic figure because he demonstrates courage, improves his character, and wins the support of the gods.

What is a hero? When we think the word “Hero” what usually comes to mind is an individual pre-destined for greatness with the weight of the world on their shoulders or some great task to complete. Heroes, however, can also become lost or super stressed out in particular situations of great pressure or in their journey in general and are able to act with integrity and grace. This is all true for Aeneas, the main character and protagonist of Virgil's Aeneid, who is such a person, but it’s not like he had done it by himself. He has had plenty of encounters with tons of situations in which death is at his doorstep, in which love and hate, peace and war mix together in what either ranges from great results to agonizing failures. Now in these circumstances Aeneas manages himself with humility, by obeying and doing as the gods wish. Yet, this is the only way Aeneas is really able to go on be a hero and found Rome. His impressive feats, actions, and leadership are all due to the divine beings that dwell up above it the firmament, aka gods. The gods were the ones who took singular interests in Aeneas, benefiting him by providing wisdom or advice and guidance, and, well, granted Juno caused him some misfortunes. However, looking at the bigger picture, most of the perfect chances Aeneas had to display his heroism were sponsored and brought to him by the gods. So the equation is simple, divine intervention + some standard trojan heartthrob prince (BOOM!) = greatest destiny come true.

Odysseus, the hero in The Odyssey, and Aeneas, the hero in The Aeneid, fought in opposing sides in the Trojan war. Odysseus was the king of Ithaca and was arguably the smartest king and warrior in all of Greece, whereas Aeneas was a warrior from Troy whose destiny was to found the Roman race in Italy. While both men were highly acclaimed by their respective countrymen as heroes, they shared many similarities in respect to their background, their virtue and their struggles. However, amidst these similarities Odysseus and Aeneas were very different in their social status, their innate disposition and in the defining characteristics of their quest.

The Aeneid, the famous epic poem written by Virgil, depicts the struggle of establishing an empire. The beginning of The Aeneid introduces Aeneas, son of the goddess Venus, whose fate is to find a new home in Italy after the fall of Troy. Throughout the perilous journey, Aeneas faces great obstacles as he strives to fulfill his prophecy and gradually transform into the ideal Virgilian hero. To emphasize his growth, I will discuss three themes in this essay: the extent of free will as it relates to fate, the influence of divine beings on mortals, and the principles of morality. All of these ideas serve as an understanding as to why Aeneas is unable to act on his own accord. This leads me to defend the view that humans require the positive guidance of a mentor figure to resist their self-indulgence.

In the Odyssey, Odysseus is quite the legend known to people, whether you are high up in the sky with Zeus, or deep in the ocean with Poseidon, everyone knows Odysseus. In the epic poem, the Odyssey told by the one and only Homer, the brave, the godlike human, Odysseus is finding his way home after the big battle victory against the Trojans. This story is about his travels home and how he got caught up in other business. Let’s just say he stabbed Poseidon’s son, had his crew turned into pigs, faced a six-headed monster and whirlpool, and that is to say the least. He may as well be on America’s most wanted list with all the trouble he was causing. Even though Odysseus is a troublemaker, he has multiple great characteristics of a leader. Odysseus, when it comes to his crew and family, is confident, compassionate, wise, and always knows a way to get out of any problem.

In Homer’s, The Odyssey, I believe that Odysseus is a true modern hero. During his long and perilous journey home Odysseus shows many heroic qualities that help save his men from many dangerous situations. He first shows his Valiant behavior during the war in Troy, he cares about his crew and survives the war. He also deeply cares about the welfare of his men on their return trip to Ithaka. Odysseus is a hero because he is a courageous leader, a quick thinker and a modest man.

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

Achilleus is the most credible hero in Homer’s Iliad according to the classic definition of an epic hero as suggested by Peter R. Stillman in ‘Introduction to Myth’. Some characteristics include: Heroes have some advantages, but are not invincible, hero’s are often alone, but have friends/guides to help along the way, and heroes descend into darkness but are forever changed after remerging. Firstly, Achilleus has many advantages- he has numerous extraordinary abilities, honourable qualities and perhaps most importantly- he isn’t immortal. On page 343, line 229-240, Achilleus reminds the Achaians that he is the best warrior amongst them and tells them ‘you will be able to do nothing… before man-slaughtering Hektor’. Nobody contradicts Achilleus statement, as the Achaians all know it to be true, and society at that time believed false modesty was not a virtue, and that

Firstly, when Aeneas is called upon to go found a new city across the sea, he lacks self-confidence. He is suddenly thrust into his harsh fate, a fate

Following his encounter with Deiphobus, Aeneas gains an understanding that avenging the past and changing the future is an act of futility; he must abandon, rather than reconcile, his past faults and personal goals in order to create success within the budding community (6.595-660). Vergil instills within the text, and thus Aeneas, conflicting ideas about fate and free will. In doing so, he purposefully perpetuates the cognitive dissonance and its negative effects on Aeneas and the Trojans until the shift and resolution in book 6, which ultimately leads to his comprehension of the importance of the role he must play.

Many things can be said about the Aeneid and what all of it means. For me, I only have a few things to say about it all. I only want to explain the tragedy of Juno and her desperate gambit to resist fate. I wish to evaluate on how Dido and Aeneas were two similar leaders, but how Dido was destined to fall due to a difference in interests and why her she killed herself. I seek to discuss on how mankind has always had the madding desire to seek more and how this desire drives us all. I intended to expand upon how humanity can achieve great success, but only when it is willing to sacrifice something of equal magnitude. Lastly, I will show how everything that I mentioned in this paper can be related to our own lives, how the book Aeneid is like an incomplete reflection of humanity’s history. Never displaying the whole picture to its last detail and slightly distorted, but discernible enough to realize that the image of the reflection is without a doubt our own.

Despite Aenea’s love for Dido, the queen of Carthage, Aeneas needed to further his journey for a new city. The god of light and sky, Jupiter, kept him on track. “Aeneas was a Trojan hero in Greek mythology, son of the prince Anchises and the goddess Aphrodite” (Greek Mythology 1). Aeneas was the prince of Troy. Troy was home of the Trojans, and was located in modern day Turkey. When the Greeks attacked and destroyed Troy, Aeneas lead his people out to find a new beginning.