Virgil the art of imitating ho
Virgil the art of imitating ho“Oprah, Uma. Uma, Oprah.”1 “Homer, Virgil. Virgil, Homer.” The Aeneid, the greatest Latin
epic of the battles and wanderings of the Trojan hero, Aeneas, and his founding of the ruling line
for the Roman Empire was written by the great Latin poet Virgil. Or so it seems. When one is
reading the Aeneid and has also read both Homeric epics, one can almost instantly see many
parallels between Homer and Virgil. Not only are there parallels in the actual style of writing,
but the most prominent parallels come in the aspects of structure, events, and characterization.
The Aeneid is, in actuality, “... a structural and thematic reworking of both epics of Homer.”2
The Aeneid is clearly modeled in the beginning after the Odyssey while in the end it is modeled
after the Iliad. The happenings and actions of Aeneas are very similar to both those of Odysseus
and later of Achilles. Many of the characters themselves are also modeled after Homer’s
characters. There are also many little details here and there which show that Virgil certainly
modeled his epic after Homer, not to plagiarize, but for the style and the use of a model for
human insight and feeling. When reading the Aeneid, one can clearly see and hear the Homeric
echoes present in the epic.
The Aeneid is clearly divided into two parts, “The ‘Odyssean’ Aeneid”3 and, “The
‘Iliadic’ Aeneid.”4 The first six books are based on the Odyssey while the last six books are
based on the Iliad. To clearly see that Virgil was indeed basing his working on Homer, let us
examine the Homeric echoes that are present in the first half, or the Odyssean Aeneid. The first
parallel that presents itself is the immediate situation of Aeneas and his ships. Just as Odysseus
and his crew were lost after the end of the Trojan War, so too are Aeneas and his crew. Just like
Odysseus was battered by a storm and almost killed after leaving Calypso’s island5, so too are
Aeneas’ ships being battered by a storm set on by Juno. The general situation is the clear
parallel, however. Not only the storm, but the fact that Aeneas and his ships are wandering lost
for many years and at the mercy of a vengeful god, and the fact that they will eventually land on
a friendly shore just like Odysseus landed on the Phaeacian shore6, is almost an exact replica of
Odysseus’ situation in the Odyssey. When Aeneas arrives on Carthaginian soil, he, just like
Odysseus did when he arrived in Phaeacia7, tells the story of how he arrived and under what
circumstances8 both told in rousing flashbacks. Another similarity to the Odyssey are the
contests and games. While in the land of the Phaeacians, Odysseus participates in the contests
there9, while Aeneas holds similar contests to...
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