Theme Of Suffering In The Aeneid

In both Homer’s Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid, the heroes make the dauntless adventure into the underworld. Both of theses visits occur around the middle of the stories, and they bring information about the lives of heroes ' loved ones. The heroes also get very important information from these loved ones; information that they require to continue on their journeys. However these are not the only things that are similar about the heroes visits. The influence of the Homeric writings of the Iliad and the Odyssey on Virgil’s writings is clear - especially in Book VI of the Aeneid. Throughout this paper we will talk about the similarities that occur throughout the two poems, and how the two authors beliefs shine through. These beliefs are two very different views on the idea of death. Homer’s Iliad depicts death as something that is something souls do not enjoy. Whereas Virgil’s Aeneid depict it more as a final rest for souls – something that relieves them of the troubles of life.

In “The Aeneid Aeneas was faced with many afflictions and was made to continue on his journey despite being comfortable and contented with where he was. the entire Aeneid shows Aeneas’ love for the gods and piety. but that was not the only element that took place it also showed his obedience. Aeneas was an obedient man.

Both Livy and Aeneas constructed masterworks of literature that would be read by man for over two millennia. What these two authors composed would shape and construct what it truly meant to be Roman, not only to those living during the era, but to those living in the far future as well. The straight facts about past kings by Livy, and the telling tale of an epic hero named Aeneas by Virgil both portrayed the importance of pietas and military fortitude. On the one hand, there is pietas; now seen as one of the highest virtues of ancient Romans, a value that signifies respect and duty to the gods, family, and country above thyself. While military fortitude, or the act of being courageous in spite of the pain or harm that may ensue, was another theme that Livy and Virgil both interacted with that would change how Romans are viewed forever.

In The Aeneid Book II, Virgil described the empathy the Trojans felt for the Greek captive:

Immediately readers are introduced to Aeneas’ supernatural plight by Virgil, who states that Juno hates Aeneas. Virgil tells of the story of Paris of Troy who was chosen to

Amy Rose’s article, Vergil’s Ship-Snake Simile, explores the importance of the snake similes presented throughout book two and book five of the Aeneid. Specifically, there are important differences with how these snake similes are depicted in these two books, which Rose focuses on and examines their significance to the story. This article suggests that stark differences between these two books shines a light on Aeneas’ change of fortune since the fall of Troy. Rose further extends the argument to encompass that these snakes also symbolize Aeneas’ newfound responsibility to his followers. Therefore, the snake similes suggest Aeneas’ change of fortune and his newfound responsibility.

This allows Achilles to both defeat him and to desecrate his body. In contrast, a different type of sin affects the Trojans in the Aeneid. Aeneas recounts when the Trojans on the beach scorned the persons who speak against the horse, saying: “And now another sign, more fearful still, / broke on our blind miserable people, / filling them [the Trojans] all with dread” (The Aeneid. 2. 75-77). In the case of the Trojan horse, however, the Trojans had been doomed by their conventional flaws such as greed and a lust for freedom even before the gods had sent signs to convince them. These two characteristics essentially doom the Trojans because they declare victory before they make sure the Greeks have left. A final flaw that nearly causes an irreplaceable death is the rage that Aeneas feels when Panthus speaks to him during the battle. Vowing with an unquenchable fury and passion “… into the flames I go, into the fight, / Where the harsh Fury, and the din and shouting, / Skyward rising, calls” (The Aeneid. Book 2. 250-252). The same fury that Aeneas believes to reside in the battle has seemingly affected him as well, causing him to lead troops on a near-suicidal charge against the Greek troops. This fury that fuels Aeneas throughout the battle is remarkably similar to the pride that is shown by Hector. Both are faults that cannot easily be forgotten, and both characters quickly become ashamed of them. These basic

The epic poem The Aeneid, by Vergil adapts scenes, similes, and characters from the Odyssey written by Homer. The works of both authors include the simile of Artemis/Diana. Other characters do overlap in some of Vergil's scenes for instance, Aeneas and Odysseus encounter Cyclops. Both authors also reference the scene of the underworld. Although, Virgil adapts similarities from Homer's epic, each encounter has noticeable comparisons and/or differences. Vergil presents the epic of the Aeneid with a different purpose. At the beginning of the Aeneid, Aeneas leaves his home with other Romans after the Trojan War. Homer starts his epic with Odysseus wanting to return home form Troy.  The motives that guide each character differ from one another. Homers the Odyssey is more of the journey of a man longing to be home again, after the trojan war has ended. His actions are somewhat selfish at times. Virgil's main character Aeneas is driven by more of a scene of duty to the gods, because he is instructed to help build Rome for future generations.

Although he opens up with "This is the tale of arms and of a man" and suggests that his hero is another Achilles, or Odysseus, he has, before the end of the first paragraph, shown that he reaches beyond Aeneas to the long history that followed from him: "and that was the origin of the Latin nation, the Lords of Alba, and the proud battlements of Rome" (I, 6-7). Soon after wards, when he has noted the obstacles that the Trojans meet in their wanderings, he again ends a period in the similar note: "Such was the cost in heavy toil of beginning the life of Rome" (I, 33). Once again, when Venus complains that her son Aeneas is unjustly treated, Jupiter replies not only by promising that all will be well for Aeneas but by giving a prophetic sketch of Roman history to Julius Caesar. This reward, which the ancestor is to receive, is much more than his own success or glory, more even than his settlement in Italy. It is the assurance of the Roman destiny, of universal and unending dominion: "To Romans I set no boundary in space or time. I have granted them dominion, and it has no end" (I, 278-79). As we can see, at the outset Vergilius shows what kind of destiny is the subject of his poem. The wanderings, sufferings and ultimate success of Aeneas and his followers are but a preliminary and preparation for a greater theme.

His obedience and determination will bear their fruit in future generations of his own lineage and in the greater benefit to the ordinary people of Italy. In short, there are times when his odyssey and its struggles seem worth it. Aeneas’s reader is left with a comment that “fortune favours men who dare” (Virgil, Aeneid 10.386-393). Like many a hero of the ancient Greco-Roman world, the struggles of Aeneas as a refugee Trojan leader involve courage and temerity. His efforts will set the world right according to the wishes of the gods in a new day to come under Augustus Caesar in Rome. Aeneas’s trials and tribulations are trivial in contrast with the greater aim. The ancient Mediterranean seems to have been full of warfare and would be heroes hoping to benefit from political instability. Aeneas is the one. His arrival on the Italian shore near Rome in mythological terms means the founding of

In the IV book of the Aeneid, Aeneas, who has descended into the Avern and has reached the chasm foaming mud of the Acheronte, sees the endless crowd of souls of all kinds and ages gathering together on the shore of the gloomy beach. Virgilio, to picture the vastness of this throng waiting to ford the river, uses a double simile of rare and impressive beauty.

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.

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

“The story that the dreamer remembers combines the two classical versions even though they are, or seem to be, irreconcilable. This reconciliation is, we must remember, an act of memory protected by the fiction of the dream; it can be most easily seen in the composite character of Aeneas. He is Virgil’s epic hero and Ovid’s false lover, admirable and treacherous. As such, he and his story are an appropriate visual summary of the value of fame which is inherently ambiguous. From his memory of two old things, the dreamer has created a “new thing” an eccentric retelling that recognizes the validity of conflicting truths in history – “fals and soth compouned” (Buchmaster 284).

Two epic poems from two great civilizations depict their authors' varying views of the Underworld: The Odyssey and The Aeneid. The Greek poet Homer describes the hardships of Odysseus and his struggle to return home to his beloved wife and family after the Trojan War in The Odyssey. The Roman poet Virgil composed The Aeneid for the first emperor of the Roman Empire, Caesar Augustus, in order to rebuild Rome after the civil war had ended. The Aeneid portrays a demigod, Aeneas, whose mission is to create a grand city that will be known as Rome. This paper analyzes the differences and similarities in how Virgil and Homer view the Underworld in The Odyssey