The Aeneid And Homer's The Odyssey

Compare the underworlds visited by Odysseus and Aeneas. Describe the major similarities and the major differences. Be sure to include the spirits who speak to the two heroes.

Visiting the underworld for guidance for the protagonist is a common theme of Virgil’s The Aeneid and Homer’s The Odyssey. The heroes Odysseus and Aeneas use the underworld as a place of knowledge and incite for the future. Although the experiences of these heroes are very similar, they still possess their own unique differences. These differences are made visible through a deep compare and contrast analysis of each individual epic.

Primarily, the most significant similarity between Homer’s hero Odysseus and Virgil’s hero Aeneas is the purpose for exploring the underworld. Both heroes decided to go to the underworld to speak to a specific person for insight on the future.

In The Odyssey, Odysseus discovers from the ghost of his comrade Elpenor that he is dead. This evokes sadness in Odysseus, which leads him to inquire the cause of death and Elpenor explains “ 'it was all bad luck, and my own unspeakable drunkenness” (Hom.Od.11.60-61). Elpenor fell of the roof of Circe’s house while asleep and broke his neck. Elpenor pleads with Odysseus to give him full burial rites so his soul can go to hades. Odysseus agrees to help him when he returns from the underworld. Correspondingly, in Virgil’s The Aeneid, Aeneas is told by the Sibyl that his comrade Misenus had been killed by Triton over jealousy of his trumpeting skills. Also, Aeneas runs into the ghost of Palinurus in the underworld who died while the ship was at sail. Palinurus had fallen asleep and fell overboard into the ocean. Aeneas like Odysseus honors his fallen comrade’s requests of proper burial, and does so immediately upon return from the