Aeneid Vs Odyssey Essay Research Paper Both

Aeneid Vs. Odyssey Essay, Research Paper

Both the Odyssey and the Aeneid share some similarities as epics; both

describe the trials of a heroic figure who is the ideal representative of a

particular culture. There are even individual scenes in the Aeneid are

borrowed from the Odyssey. Yet, why are Odysseus and Aeneas so unlike one

another. The answer is that the authors lived in two different worlds, whose

values and perceptions varied greatly of a fundamental level.

To illustrate, two common ideas woven into the Odyssey are custom and

recklessness. Customs were handed down by the gods, and were meant to keep

men safe by giving them civilization. When men were reckless (when they

flaunted custom and the gods), they invited retribution and chaos by placing

themselves outside the ordained scope of humanity. Moreover, if the customs

are followed and proper respect given the gods, it is possible for man to live

in harmony indefinitely.

In contrast, the Aeneid propounds upon furor and civitas. Furor is the

discord that lies at the heart of each person which engenders violence, and

this furor must be restrained in order for civilization to work. This gives

rise to the idea of civitas, the overwhelming devotion to the state above

selfish personal desire; this is the only way man can chain furor on a large

scale. Moreover, it is always possible for furor to surface; even after years

of sacrifice and constant vigilance, peace is never guaranteed.

These differences in ethos are most easily seen when Virgil borrows a

scene and transforms it to his own ends. For example, Virgil adopts the

episode where Odysseus washes up on the shore of Skheria and meets the

Phaiakians and uses it to form the core of Aeneid I and II.

In the Odyssey, the episode begins with Odysseus on his makeshift raft,

heading home after all his trials. His eventual passage home has been agreed

upon by Zeus, “whose will is not subject to error.”1 However, in the past

Odysseus wounded Polyphemos and in reckless abandon questioned the power of

the gods; while he was fleeing from the Cyclops he yelled “If I could take

your life I would and take your time away, and hurl you down to hell! The god

of earthquake could not heal you there!”2 For this affront, Poseidon decided

to make Odysseus’ journey home a long and difficult one. The god of the sea

sends a storm his way but Odysseus survives with the nereid Ino’s gift and

guidance. After Poseidon departs, he finally reaches Skheria’s shore with

Athena’s help.

The opening scenes in the Aeneid corresponds to Homer’s sequence. Aeneas

and the Trojans are on their ships, heading to found a new city after many

travails. The eventual founding of the city has been agreed upon by Jupiter,

and thus the Trojan’s “[d]estiny is unaltered”3 regardless of what calamity

befalls them. However, Juno is worried that the Trojans’ descendants will

eventually surpass the Greeks, “root up her Libyan empire”4, and “enslave the

children of Agamemnon”5; so she convinces Aeolus to release to some winds to

destroy them now. The winds are so fierce that they need a “heap of mountains

[laid] upon them” and even then “[b]ehind the bars they bellow, mightily

fretting: the mountain is one immense murmur.”6 Aeolus releases them by

pushing his spear at the flank of the mountain, and “in a solid mass, [they]

hurl themselves through the gates” and they nearly devastate the Trojans.

Neptune quiets the winds and the seas, and then rides away.

Odysseus and the Trojans have much in common. Both are plagued by gods

(the former by Poseidon and the latter by Juno). Despite their troubles, both

are also guaranteed eventual success, for their accomplishments have been

ordained by the supreme God, and this cannot be denied. However, the

distinction between the source of their difficulties is an important one.

Odysseus willingly invited disaster by flaunting the power of the gods. If he

had not done so and followed custom as he should, he would have returned home

much sooner with much less travail. The Trojans are simply subject to

disaster, for no reason whatsoever. The winds are specifically portrayed as

bound furor for this reason; in Virgil’s world furor is always present and can

strike at any time. At the moment, this is just a subtle difference, but

further into the episode it becomes magnified.

In the Odyssey, Odysseus meets Nausikaa and wins her over, earning passage

into the city. He then proceeds to Phaiakia and meets Athena in the guise of

a little girl. With Athena’s guidance he makes his way to the palace, under a

mist which screens him from sight. There he stops to admire the courtyard and

orchard, and pauses to form his thoughts before entering. He then finds Arete

and beseeches her to help him. The corresponding scenes have been fused and

altered in the Aeneid. Aeneas

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