THE AENEID AND THE ODYSSEY
Mitchell Bono
HIS-321 X2491
12/18/2021
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The Aeneid and the Odyssey
Virgil is a Roman poet born in Mantua in 70 BC. He was a prominent national epic
through his work, the Aeneid, narrating the story about the legendary forefather of Rome and his
pursuit to civilize the world with the leadership of divine beings. Homer is a Greek poet born at
the coast of Asia Minor. He is the first writer to compose a series of stories like the Iliad and the
Odyssey. Aeneid is a fictional story about Aeneas, a Trojan priest who journeyed over the land
and the sea and later became the founder of Italy. On the other hand, Odyssey is a key ancient
Greek poem accredited to Homer and is essential to the contemporary western canon.1 The paper
examines the similarities and differences between the Aeneid and the Odyssey and explores what
each story reveals about ancient Greek culture.
Similarities between Odyssey and Aeneid
There are various similarities between the Aeneid and the Odyssey stories. For example,
both stories emphasize the idea of vengeance, which is viewed as a crucial element. In both
stories, the main characters, Aeneas and Odysseus, are destined to return their Empires into a
sense of glory. They are motivated and catalyzed by their own need for heroism, thus choosing
bloodshed over peace. In Aeneid, Aeneas, motivated by his emotions, decided to kill Turnus in
the last combat regardless of the opportunity he had to spare his life.2 Similarly, In Odyssey,
Odysseus kills all the maids and suitors who helped with the siege of his throne upon returning
home despite the opportunity he had to spare their lives.3
1
Homer Homer. The odyssey. Xist Publishing, (2015).
Karl Watts Gransden and Harrison Stephen John. Virgil: The Aeneid. Cambridge University
Press, 2004
3
Christopher Nassaar. "The Tithonos Myth in Homer's ODYSSEY and Virgil's AENEID." The
Explicator 68, no. 3 (2010): 149.
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Another notable similarity in both stories is the presence of supernatural. In both stories,
the spirit of the dead was able to speak to the living, either advising or warning them. In Aeneid,
Creusa, the deceased wife of Aeneas, reappeared, encouraging him not to worry and proceed to
his destiny. One of the Trojan warriors, Hector, also appeared to Aeneas, warning him that Troy
would be captured; thus, he needed to assemble all his household gods and seek refuge in
another city. On the other hand, In Odyssey, Odysseus visited the underworld to make sacrifices
and offerings. The shades of the dead joined and drank blood, and one of them, known as
Elpenor, asked Odysseus to honor the dead and construct a burial home for his (Elpenor's) body.
In both books, Aeneas and Odysseus undergo voyages that demand much from them as
they face physical and strength trials. In his path, Aeneas is continuously hindered by Juno, who
knows that Aeneas is destined to destroy her beloved Carthage. Similarly, in his path, Odysseus
faces the trouble of Poseidon, the sea god. The god's favoritism also causes glitches for both
warriors; Poseidon intervenes to trouble Odysseus in his Ithaca journey. The sea god preferred
not to kill Odysseus but ensured that his journey was full of problems. Similarly, Juno intervenes
on the mission of Aeneas, unleashing a storm at sea against the Aeneas fleet, forcing them to
establish a landfall at the Carthage.4 This resulted in the falling of love between Aeneas and
Dido, thus diverting his attention and mission and afterward stimulating Mars and Jupiter to send
Mars downwards to remind Aeneas of his assignment.
Aeneas' encounters with Harpies are similar to Odysseus's encounter with Cyclopes. Both
characters in those incidents dealt with unfriendly creatures, which troubles their crew, making
them land on strange islands. During their time at the Island of the sun, Aeneas and Odysseus'
4
Virgil. The Aeneid. Simon and Schuster, (2009).
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experiences are also similar in that both characters' crew ate the indigenous people's cattle
without getting permission. Their final outcome is likewise the same because both crews are
punished with curses, which results in difficult times for both characters.
Differences between Odyssey and Aeneid
There are various differences between the Aeneid and the Odyssey. The first difference is
concerning the intentions of the journey of the two main characters, which are completely
different. Aeneas, a Trojan warrior and a survivor of the destroyed Troy, escaped the burning
Troy at the hands of the Achaeans and was on a mission of establishing a new home in Rome.
On the other hand, in Odyssey, Odysseus, an Achaeans warrior who has tasted victory, is on a
mission to return to his early established home and thus does not need a new home. Secondly, in
the Aeneid story, Aeneas travels with his family, including his father and his son, While, in
Odyssey, Odysseus travels with his fellow men. Besides, in Odyssey, Odysseus' wife survives
while in Aeneid, the wife of Aeneas, Creusa, died.
In the second half of the Aeneid, Aeneas battled to win himself a new bride and a new
home. While in Odyssey, the second half of the story narrates Odysseus' battle to win his old
bride.5 Aeneas is also portrayed in the Aeneid story as skilled in combat and has a certain amount
of wisdom, whereas, in Odyssey, Odysseus is portrayed as slightly more clever and does not
prefer to fight his enemies; rather, he deceives them. In the Aeneid book 6, Aeneas
communicates with his dead father when he visited the underworld, while in Odyssey book 11,
Odysseus held a dialogue with his mother during his underworld visit. In Aeneid, Aeneas faces
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Homer, Homer. The odyssey.
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various glitches in his journey to find a new home in Rome, such as a storm at sea, the death of
his friends, and the burning of his ships. Contrarily, Odysseus faces difficulties like interruptions
by Poseidon, fighting against Polyphemus the Cyclopes, and his sailors being held captive by the
ten lotus-eaters. Additionally, Odysseus is punished by Zeus, confined by sirens, and encounters
monsters such as Charybdis and Scylla in his journey.
Another difference is that Aeneas and Odysseus come from contrasting sides of the
Trojan War. Also, Aeneas is portrayed to be favored by the gods as he got help from them, while
Odysseus had to fight as he was held up on his trip by the gods. The Odyssey contains twentyfour shorter books, while Aeneid includes twelve books, which are longer. Besides, Aeneid has
more propaganda than the Odyssey; the writing of Aeneid is profoundly influenced by the
political situation of the Augustan rule.
What the Odyssey and Aeneid reveal about the ancient Greek cultures
The Aeneid story reveals various cultures of ancient Greek. First, it demonstrates that
Romans had a strong devotion to their gods, ancestors, and families. In his journey to the new
city, Aeneas traveled with close relatives, also offering sacrifices to the ancestors' displays how
the Roman culture valued ancestors and gods.6 The character of Aeneas also portrays the
Romans to strongly believe in fate and disbelieve in freewill as Juno assumed that they were
meant to find the new city in Rome.7 Romans also had a culture that thought that war was evil or
terrible; this is portrayed when the Trojans fought Greek for Troy in the same way that Rome for
6
Frederick Ahl. Aeneid. (Oxford University Press, 2007).
Keely Lake. "Vergil Aeneid 1, and: Vergil Aeneid 2, and: Vergil Aeneid 3." Mouseion: Journal
of the Classical Association of Canada 10, no. 1 (2010): 110-112.
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land and power. In inference, the Aeneid story reveals that Roman culture was concerned about
power and welfare, duty-oriented, religious, and a family and ancestors-driven society.
Homer's heroic Odysseus reveals various cultural principles that depict him as intelligent,
brave, creative, etc. The story evidently shows the morality of ancient Greek society. It narrates
that Odysseus's partner was taken over by a group of stranger men, who were all competing to
replace Odysseus's wife Penelope; this shows that inheritance and taking over families of other
men were allowed in the ancient Greek culture. The same is reflected by Odysseus' old son, who
is permitted to travel to the home of Menelaus and his wife, where he is being asked to stay as
long as he wishes. Odysseus is as well dominated by the existence of supernatural gods and
beings. This reveals that the ancient Greek culture had a belief in myths. The ancient Greek
society believed that a plethora of gods and goddesses influenced the fate of human beings.8
Besides, the threat of being cast into heaven reveals that their culture was religious. Regardless
of the several men competing for Odysseus's wife, she waited for Odysseus for years. This shows
that the ancient Greek culture believed in loyalty. Another value revealed about the ancient
Greek culture through the Odyssey story is hospitality. When beggars came to Penelope,
requesting bread. Odysseus' wife informed her maids to feed them.
8
Eileen Doherty Lillian, ed. Homer's Odyssey. (Oxford University Press, USA, 2009).
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Bibliography
Homer, Homer. The odyssey. Xist Publishing, 2015.
Gransden, Karl Watts, and Stephen John Harrison. Virgil: The Aeneid. Cambridge University
Press, 2004.
Nassaar, Christopher S. "The Tithonos Myth in Homer's ODYSSEY and Virgil's AENEID." The
Explicator 68, no. 3 (2010): 149.
Virgil. The aeneid. Simon and Schuster, 2009.
Ahl, Frederick. Aeneid. Oxford University Press, 2007.
Lake, Keely. "Vergil Aeneid 1, and: Vergil Aeneid 2, and: Vergil Aeneid 3." Mouseion: Journal
of the Classical Association of Canada 10, no. 1 (2010): 110-112.