Differences in Death

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Recommended: Compare and contrast Odyssey and Aeneid

Additionally, the information that each hero receives is different. Odysseus learns from Tiresias that he will return home but "will find a world of pain at home" (11.132). Tiresias tells Odysseus of the obstacles that will be in his way on the way home and how to overcome them. Further, he is told how to get rid of his curse brought upon by Poseidon. Although Aeneas is also told the future by his father and "of glory in the years to come, wars that he must fight, [and] how he might avoid or bear each toil to come," (6.1207-1210) the type of information contrasts with the information given to Odysseus because Aeneas receives information relating to the rise of Rome and how he will achieve his goal, whereas Odysseus is given information that will purely suit himself. Aeneas also learns of the journeys and purging that a person's soul takes after death before being reincarnated. Anchises explains that when a body dies, "not all the scourges of the body pass from the poor souls," (6.990) so therefore they all "undergo the discipline of punishments and pay in penance for old sins: [they] suffer each his own shade" (6.994-999). This emphasizes the justice system of Virgil's Underworld because each soul receives the punishment it deserves.
Furthermore, the information each hero receives from the spirits of the Underworld helps show the difference in beliefs between the Greeks and Romans. The Greeks believed that everyone ended up in the same place regardless of the life they lived as shown when "brides and unwed youths and old men and girls and great armies of battle dead and men of war" (11.43-46) came floating out of the trench all at once. There is no order involved, whereas in the Aeneid, each of the spirits Aeneas encounters is ...

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...or as a prize to the biggest and strongest warrior and Odysseus won. Achilles' armor symbolizes great honor and respect so Ajax is jealous and "blazing with anger" (11.621) at Odysseus for winning because he was "greatest in build [and] works of war," (11.629) and is upset that his glory was stripped away by someone weaker. However, in the Aeneid, Dido kills herself because Aeneas "left [her] land" when she loved him and so she is angry with him and refuses to speak to Aeneas when he calls but instead "savagely glar[es] back" (6.629) at him. This helps convey the difference in values because in Homer's Underworld, Ajax is mad at losing the glory for himself, showing that the Greeks believed in individuality and glory for the individual, whereas in Virgil's Underworld, Dido is upset that the love she had for Aeneas was not returned, conveying the devotion to love.

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