Differences and similarities between Aeneid and Iliad (Example)

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Name Professor Course Date Differences and similarities between Aeneid and Iliad Aeneas was one of the Trojan heroes and a mythological progenitor in Rome. His adventures were drafted during the Pax Augusta a time when the roman land was experiencing high optimism. Fate makes him one of the lucky Trojans who manages to escape the hands of the Greeks by being assisted by his mother. Upon shifting to Italy Aeneas bears a son who becomes the predecessor of Rome. Earlier Aeneas has been alerted on his journey sail to Italy. Aeneas crew meets the Harpies whom they had earlier battled and the fact that they are unable to defeat they choose to escape (Armstrong 135). This is followed by an encounter with the Hecters window who had been enslaved by the Achilles son as a war prisoner. Aeneas is the protagonist of the Aeneid and the only lone survivor purpose. Through the writing of the epic glory the Rome’s conquest brings a totally different picture of the ancient world (Johnson 25). This gives a consideration of the popular culture and philosophy that had been justified during the time. Greeks had begun embracing civilization by the time Aeneid was written. This is what led to the adoption of homers views of style and themes in drafting the Aeneid. Works Cited Armstrong Rebecca. "The Aeneid: inheritance and empire." Epic Interactions: Perspectives on Homer Virgil and the Epic Tradition Presented to Jasper Griffin by Former Pupils. Ed. MJ Clarke BFG Currie and ROAM Lyne. New York: Oxford UP (2006): 131-57. Calloway Katherine. "Beyond Parody: Satan as Aeneas in Paradise Lost." Milton Quarterly 39.2 (2005): 82-92. Johnson Walter Ralph. Darkness Visible: A Study of Vergil's" Aeneid". University of Chicago Press 2015. Panoussi Vassiliki. "Virgil: Aeneid Book XII ed. by Richard Tarrant (review)." American Journal of Philology 135.2 (2014): 291-295. [...]

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Vergil’s Aeneid shares a connection to the Trojan legend with to Homer's Iliad, but, as we have discussed in class, there are important differences. For instance, while both Achilles and Aeneas face fierce battles, Vergil’s Aeneas is a protagonist with a less personal and more “nationalistic” mission. Moreover, one could argue that the story about Aeneas looks to the future (what is going to happen after Aeneas is long gone) in a way that Achilles’ story does not. This eye towards the future may in part be a reflection of the fact that Aeneas, while the protagonist of Vergil’s epic, is not the only focus of the narrative. Write an essay in which you discuss Aeneas’ adventures in light of what you see as one of the purposes of this Roman epic. For this topic, you will be keeping a comparison of Achilles and Aeneas in mind, but you will be focusing on Aeneas. A good way to begin the body of the paper, for instance, would be to discuss briefly the characterization of Homer’s protagonist in the Iliad, including what you think may have been the purpose of the work. Spend at most two paragraphs on this, however, and then quickly move on to the Aeneid. Your discussion of the Aeneid should obviously refer back to what you said about the Iliad, but you should broaden out the discussion of the Aeneid even more. The thesis of the paper should make some sort of assertion about how the Aeneid differs from many other heroic works of antiquity (it also differs from Gilgamesh, no?), but you do not necessarily need to set up a comparison with the Iliad specifically in the thesis.