Odyssey & Aeneid Homer's Odyssey Essay

Eumaeus heard the discussion and said: "Don't listen to this girl, she has gone mad after having lost her father, the queen is not ready to pick a suitor yet!" I couldn't tell Eumaeus about my arrangement as he could have ruined it all.

After all the suitors had gathered in the great hall, I've locked all of the doors so that none could escape my father's revenge. My father appeared, and, as if he knew what my plan had been, he asked me for his armor and for his weapons. Soon enough, the great hall boiled as my father murdered every single one of my mother's suitors.

The story of Aeneis pretty much resembles that of Odysseus and like the Greek hero, the Trojan goes through great efforts until reaching his destination. Homer's influence on the Aeneis is seen clearly across the epic.

However, in an attempt to give a unique touch to the epic, and, also, to adapt it to Roman customs of the period, Virgil goes at endowing Aeneis with an exceptional feature which he presumably leaves to the Roman world: piety.

In the Aeneis, piety is shown under the form of Pietas, a part of Aeneis which makes him act according to his mind, and not according to his heart. During his stay in Charthage, Aeneis falls madly in love with Dido, the queen of Carthage.They fall in love because of a deal which Juno tricked Venus into having. Because of his love for Dido, Aeneis forgets the main purpose of his mission: to reach Italy and to lay the grounds for an empire on the land.

Jupiter intervenes and with the help of Mercury makes Aeneis realize that he had to fulfill his duty. Without giving it another thought, Aeneis decides to leave and behind him Dido commits suicide. Unmoved by Dido's act, Aeneis moves on to complete his mission in Italy.

Aeneis is proof that great people cannot pay much attention to their personal life, for they have a much greater goal that they have to achieve.

The Aeneis and the Odyssey are also similar because of the fact that the two heroes are both being prevented from reaching their destination because of women. While Circe wants Odysseus to stay with her, Dido stops Aeneis from completing his mission. Odysseus forgets that he has to return home and spends a year with Circe on her island after which his men remind him that they have to leave. Aeneis stays with Dido for some time until Mercury reminds him that he has to finish his duty.

Works cited:

1. Homer. "The Odyssey."

2. Virgil.….....