The Iliad In Virgil And The Aeneid By Virgil

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In the poem The Aeneid by Virgil the characters showed signs of mortality as they thought through their options, unlike The Iliad that was written by Homer. The ancient epic poems that are more commonly known are: The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer and The Aeneid by Virgil. All three of these poems are concentrated around one famous war known as the Trojan War. “How about this: what makes Virgil’s Aeneid connected to Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey is also what makes it different from them” (Shmoop). The main character in the Aeneid is Aeneas. Aeneas is a survivor from the siege of troy. One difference from the Iliad and The Odyssey is that Aeneas was guided from his land, while Hector and Achilles were both tempted by the God’s to do certain …show more content…
“During his wanderings, Aeneas undergoes many hardships. In every instance, he consoles himself by remembering the great destiny of the empire that he is fated to found” (cliffnotes). Aeneas looks toward himself and not toward a god to help him rebuild his confidence. Unlike the Iliad where Hector was to cowardly to fight Achilles and had to be motivated by a god, Aeneas looked inside himself without having to have a supernatural intervene. The God’s were concerned with the future of Rome. For example, “Troy’s fall s a grave defeat for the trojans, but it is a necessary condition for the evolution of Rome, which, according to the poem, is destined to become Troy’s successor in the far distant future” (Cliffnotes). The Aeneid takes place after the fall of troy during a period in which Virgil hopped to praise the values of Augustus. While reading the Aeneid you may have noticed that it speaks on the terms of having a priority of an organized society whereas the Iliad was in praise of …show more content…
Fate determined the whole story. It also determined who would be able to keep their lives and who would ultimately lose their lives trying to defy fate itself. “The development of individual characters in the epic is apparent in the readiness and resistance with which they meet the directives of fate” (Sparknotes theme). As well Virgil’s emphasise on Rome’s origins and traits. “The Aeneid steadily points toward this already realized cultural pinnacle; Aeneas even justifies his settlement in Latium in the same manner that the empire justified its settlement in numerous other foreign territories” (Sparknotes

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