As I was reading The Aeneid, I began to realize some similarities between it and The Odyssey. Call it crazy, but it almost seems like the authors of these two books were friends and took inspiration from one another, but Virgil seemed to have a better time telling his story. When in comparison to The Odyssey, many events are similar in that the crews must encounter the cyclopes in some way, deal with the situation of Calypso and Scylla, and fend off a hoard of mythical beasts (Aeneid > Harpies : Odyssey > Sirens). I find Virgil's story to be far more interesting however, mainly as it appeals to the Average Joe. Aeneas has no hope to survive any deadly situation he comes across, yet as he says it himself that it was divine will that got him to Italy in the end. Homer told the story of a hero who won the war for his homeland, seemingly single-handedly; Virgil writes of a war torn veteran who is clawing at the very edge of fate and survives by pure luck of the draw and will of the gods (that he is oblivious to). I just see similarities in the progression of the stories between one another.
I commented on Dallas' and Nate's post.
Yes! I saw so many parallelisms between the two when reading.
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