Virgil, by contrast committed the Aeneid to paper, intending that his epic poem be read. Homer’s epic poems were created in the oral tradition that were intended to be recited or sang before large audiences. Virgil is telling a story about the much beleaguered Aeneas because he has the right stuff! Aeneas, having been forced out of Troy, traveling to Italy to establish himself there in spite of the difficulties, taking an Italian bride in order to fulfill his fate in becoming an important ancestor of the Roman people. Having announced for all to see that he intends to write in the Homeric epic poetry style, Virgil then proceeds to masterfully illustrate how his epic poem will be DIFFERENT from Homer’s epic poems. Some of the Differences between Virgil and Homer The fact that Virgil is using Troy and the Trojan war as the backdrop and framing device for his magnum opus helps the audience understand that they are to connect his Aeneid with the Iliad and the Odyssey.
will have certain main themes – like the anger of Juno. tell about the exploits of just one man – Aeneas and what makes up his essential character and destiny just like Homer wrote about Odysseus in the Odyssey. will have the same setting – the Trojan war just like Homer wrote about in the Iliad. that he is indebted to Greek poet Homer and his epic poem will feature some of the same characters and subjects that appear in the Iliad and the Odyssey. Just as Homer created two works of literature that ranked as the best that mankind has ever created (the Iliad and the Odyssey), Virgil is informing his audience that his literary work the Aeneid is to be compared with those literary works.įurthermore, Virgil is announcing that his Aeneid will: In using the same words that Homer used in the Iliad, Virgil is announcing to all that he is going to write in the same style as the Homeric epic poetry tradition. The Aeneid is very much about the adventures of one man: Aeneas. The Odyssey is very much about the adventures of one man: Odysseus (Roman name: Ulysses). The second word of the Aeneid is virum or man the first word of the Odyssey is andra or man. Aeneas will also be fighting in a war in the second half of the Aeneid, and in this Virgil’s Aeneid owes a debt to Homer’s Iliad. Later, he is angry at Hector, and many Trojans die as a result. At first he is angry at Agamemnon, and many Greeks, a.k.a Achaeans, die as a result. The first word of the Iliad is menon or wrath, and of course Achilles’ wrath leads to many deaths in the Trojan War. The first few words of the Aeneid in Latin, “Arma virumque cano” (“I sing of arms” that is, weapons “and a man”) let us know that Virgil is writing in the tradition of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey.Īrma or arms recalls the Iliad, which tells the story of the wrath of Achilles in the Trojan War. The Alban lords, and the high walls of Rome. His gods to Latium, land of the Latin race, 
Till he could found a city and bring home (1.1-7 Pharr) Those first 12 lines of the Aeneid (the first 11 lines of Latin) are rendered this way in Robert Fitzgerald’s fine English translation: I sing of warfare and a man at war.īy blows from powers of the air-behind them Inferretque deos Latio-genus unde Latinum,Īlbanique patres atque altae moenia Romae. Multa quoque et bello passus, dum conderet urbem,
Vi superum, saevae memorem Junonis ob iram, Litora-multum ille et terris iactatus et alto : preliminary comment : preface 2 : prelude 3 : a short introduction These are the opening lines the Aeneid in Latin: ARMA virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris
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