Virgil’s Aeneid: Echoes of Homer’s Epics
Virgil takes his inspiration from Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad. He brilliantly combines the best of both epics, understanding that the greatest writers draw inspiration from their predecessors. When Augustus commissioned this epic around 28 B.C.E., Virgil was handsomely paid to write the greatest poem about Rome’s glory and its origins in Troy.
The twelve books he designed purposely emulate Homer, starting with what is arguably the better poem, The Odyssey, since the first half (books one through six) reflects the themes of the latter. The second half of The Aeneid (books seven through twelve) reflects Homer’s Iliad. Virgil chose to put the better half first, as all good writing needs to capture the reader’s attention. Due to the heavier nature of the second half, he chose to leave it until later.
Books one through six reflect Homer’s Odyssey, as our hero, Aeneas, travels, like Odysseus, over the Mediterranean Sea before reaching his destination—the future Rome. Like Odysseus, he suffers tremendous adversity and is subject to the cruelty of Juno, who retains her grudge against the Trojans because of the judgement of Paris, Ganymede, and the prophecy that descendants of the Trojans would one day destroy her favorite city, Carthage.
Book one sets the scene for the first six books, opening like Moby Dick, in the middle of a storm. The goal of book one is to set Aeneas in Carthage, where he meets the tragic heroine, Queen Dido. Having been received kindly by the Queen at a banquet in their honor, Dido asks Aeneas to tell the story of the fall of Troy, their escape, and their travels before arriving in North Africa. Virgil uses this transition effectively to set up the themes of the next two books, wherein Aeneas tells of the fall of Troy in book two and their travels in book three.
Since the author has now set the stage, it is the perfect opportunity for him to showcase his talent. He decides to start with his best foot forward by having Aeneas tell the story of the Trojan Horse, which was ultimately to become possibly the world’s most famous mythological story. Virgil perceived, quite brilliantly, that Homer “truly nodded,” or failed, in not telling the story in any of his writings. In fact, Homer only refers to the story in passing without any serious narrative, thus leaving a vacuum that Virgil eventually filled. One would logically expect the fall of Troy to culminate in the Iliad, but it doesn’t. To this extent, Virgil shows great literary insight.
He fleshes out the story of the Trojan horse in book three: the subsequent assault on Troy by the Greeks, the defeat of the Trojans, and Aeneas’ escape with his comrades and family, ending with their departure by ship for their destined new nation.
Book three serves to narrate the travels of Aeneas and his heroes through thick and thin against all odds, ultimately arriving in Sicily where his father Anchises dies. After the funeral games, Aeneas sent his people by ship to Italy only to be driven in the opposite direction to Carthage by Juno’s storm. There, she wishes to unite our Trojan hero with Queen Dido to prevent him from reaching his destiny.