"Aeneid" and "Odyssey"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how many of the elements of Virgil's classic, "Aeneid", are extremely reminiscent of Homer's "Odyssey" and attempts to delineate some of the scenes, methods, and manners that Virgil adapted from the "Odyssey" in formulating the construction of his own classic, great, epic work. It looks at how Virgil attempted to draw many parallels between the two works in terms of their methodology and content. It shows how both works begin in medias res, or in the middle of the action of the story, rather than starting at the initial temporal point of departure for the story, and how both epics deal with the issue of flight from Troy, although one flees in victory and the other in defeat. It also discusses how both heroes encounter women who love them and try to hold them captive because of this love and how both works ultimately are about finding a home.

From the Paper:

"Like the great Homerian work, The Odyssey, Aeneas' story begins in media res, or "in the middle of things." The story does not open on the original action of the book. The Odyssey opens in this similar fashion. Instead of opening just as Odysseus is departing from Troy, the great epic begins by illustrating the scene in which Odysseus is detained by the sea nymph, Calypso. By opening in the middle of things, the story immediately keeps the readers attention and leaves the elements of the past a mystery for later discovery. Similarly, The Aeneid begins not at the temporal beginning of the story but in its middle after Aeneas has already embarked upon his journey. In Book I of the Aeneid, Aeneas gets shipwrecked on the Northern coast of Africa. It is here that he encounters Dido, the Phoenician Queen that is building Carthage."

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