Essay #10 Throughout mythology, there are many similarities between the works of the Greeks and the Romans. Within these stories, often there are parallels between the characters of these epics. In Virgil’s work, Aeneid, the reader is introduced to the protagonist, Aeneas, who shares many traits with Homer’s Odyessus from the Odyssey. Coming out of the aftermath of the Trojan War, they embark on two different journeys, one to return home and the other to establish a new one. Although they both are focused on their goals throughout their journey, their overall dedication is defined differently: self-driven and duty-driven. Throughout this work, Aeneas is driven by duty and loyalty. In Aeneid, Aeneas’s primary goal and determination is to found a …show more content…
This is further supported by Mercury’s warning to him to continue his mission, saying to him “If you’re not stirred by the glory of destiny, and won’t exert yourself for your own fame, think of your growing Ascanius, and the expectations of him, as Iulus your heir, to whom will be owed the kingdom of Italy, and the Roman lands.” (Virgil’s Aeneid. IV. 272-276) From this quote, Aeneas is not only encouraged to think of his people, but also of his son's future, highlighting his duty as a father. Overall, Aeneas’s determination is filled with his sense of responsibility and purpose, rather than fully with his own interests. In contrast to Aeneas, Odysseus, from Homer’s Odyssey, is mainly self-driven by his own desires. Following his victory in the Trojan war, Odysseus' journey, and the work itself, is led by his desire to return home to Ithaca and return to his family. At the beginning of the Odyssey, Athene petitions the gods to help Odysseus by saying that, “But Odysseus, who yearns for the mere sight of the smoke rising from his own country, only longs to die.” (Homer’s Odyssey).