Comparative Analysis of the Aeneid, Odyssey, and Iliad

Comparative Analysis of the Aeneid, Odyssey, and Iliad

The Iliad and the Odyssey are two of the best Greek epics written by Homer. Despite their popularity, almost nothing is known about the author beyond the existence of his masterpieces. Surprisingly enough no concrete evidence of his existence is available; not even to confirm the same person created the two works. The authorship of the Iliad and the Odyssey were debated even in the times of the ancient Greeks. Many scholars have argued that Homer did not compose the Iliad and the Odyssey; only compiled over the centuries by many different storytellers.

Certainly, it is known that the stories that comprise these two works come from a long mythological tradition. The Iliad in particular, is an especially well documented oral tradition, and its stories would have been quite familiar to Homer's audiences before the epic was written down. Interestingly, the style of the Iliad, its similarity to the Odyssey, cast of characters and their portrayal all support the belief that they were the work of a one author, who took familiar stories and worked them into two major works. Should this have happened, it was likely around the eighth century B.C.

This puts the third work to be discussed, the Aeneid just a little over seven centuries younger than the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Aeneid written by Virgil, the best known of Roman poets. Shortly after finishing Georgics, a long poem on farming, he began his masterwork, the Aeneid, the story of the founding of Rome. The Aeneid took eleven years to complete, and even then Virgil did not consider the epic fit for publication. At his death, he ordered the destruction of the Aeneid. However, Emperor Augustus intervened and, to the gr...

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...the country. Which goes further to explain the Aeneid's political flavoring.

Moreover, in some absolute sense Odysseus belongs at home on Ithaca, and once there he can remain there indefinitely in safety. The Romans' world was much more uncertain because of the constant possibility for disaster, and believed that human existence was inherently a tragedy because of this constant anger. Even had all the Trojans done nothing wrong, they still would have received the winds sent at Juno's (Hera) behest. All they had was vulnerable, their lives, their cities, and their civilization; anything could be destroyed by the godless discord. Moreover, no matter how devout and full of duty one is, it is always possible for furor to surface. Thus, it is not surprising that the Greek and Roman epics were so different, since what they perceived were really two different worlds.