Aeneid Research Paper

1040 Words3 Pages

Kyle Ehrenworth
12/16/14
Epic World Masterpieces
Final Paper

Intertextuality is a huge part of epic traditions. If a reader were to read Virgil’s work on the Aeneid, or Homer’s work on the Odyssey, the audience would be able to tell that the story sounds a bit familiar. Maybe the characters may not be familiar but the plot usually follows along the same path. Virgil is one of the many predecessors to a literary tradition and way of writing. Back in Virgil’s time before the birth of Christ literary professionals would pass on the technique and the tradition that’s involved in writing epics. Being an amazing writer at that time was quite a feat. It was an honor to write epics, they were one of the few forms of entertainment. This form of mentoring …show more content…

Homer came almost one thousand years before Virgil’s time. Homer’s works are widely known and often used as a basis for new poet’s epics during Virgil’s time. Homer’s stories pertained around the Trojan War and Virgil wanted to be better than Homer so he wrote an epic that focused on the variety of emotions that come along with war. Virgil worked deliberately and wrote up the Aeneid, the Eclogues, the Georgics, and possibly many more. Virgil’s epic hero Aeneas in the Aeneid is very similar to Achilles in the Iliad. In Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, he writes about a hero who continues to go through tests that the Gods put him through. During these tests both Odysseus and Achilles take personal loses. Odysseus is Greek who takes his time and plans out what he is about to do, while Achilles just wants fame which almost destroys his people’s army. Then you have Aeneas who’s a Trojan and tends not to plan out his journey and battles, and he is on a quest. The biggest similarity between the three men is they both are searching for …show more content…

Dante’s Divine Comedy is what he came up with around the beginning of the fourteenth century. This time in history was vastly different than Virgil’s era and far more different than Homer’s era. This story was different than ones before it. Society developed more than Homer or Virgil could’ve ever imagine which, in return, impacted the writing style of Dante’s epic. Dante’s Divine Comedy interacts with the audience and relates more to Church and Christ rather than Roman and Greek Gods. The story concentrates more on a person trying to please and honor God rather than themselves. Dante focuses on sin in the average Christian’s life. His work truly connects to his audience. The 3 parts of Dante’s comedy is Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. Inferno representing Hell, hence the fiery name; Purgatorio meaning people are expiating their sins before heaven; and Paradiso meaning heaven. Although this poem sounds like a tragedy, it is a comedy. Dante, like Aeneas Odysseus and Achilles, is on a quest to find something and he does this for God rather than his own satisfaction like Aeneas and Achilles did as

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