Virgil’s Aeneid is the story of an epic hero, Aeneas, who rose from the ashes of Troy, exchanging his humanity for the immortality of founding Rome. The story picks up at the end of Homer’s Iliad, and the first three books alone, parallel the Odyssey in a variety of ways. Virgil uses a number of techniques to compare and contrast Odysseus to Aeneas, but this essay will only focus on the way the protagonists are introduced, how they face trials, and how they view one another.
In the beginning of the two poems, the authors take vastly different approaches in introducing their protagonists. Odysseus is mentioned by name in the Proem of the Odyssey, but in the Aeneid, Virgil’s hero remains nameless until line 110 of book 1. Such observations make the characters’ underlying motivators evident, in that Odysseus is only concerned with himself, and therefore is the center of his story’s focus, but Aeneas must sacrifice himself for the sake of his mission, the founding of Rome, which is his story’s focus. To highlight this difference, the characters are introduced in completely different states of being. Odysseus is alone on Ogygia, and Aeneas is surrounded by his crew, a group of exiled Trojans who are united in fear of a storm, “in an instant, clouds stole the daylight from the Trojans’ eyes…everywhere men saw the presence of death” (B1:106-109). These settings serve to differentiate between Odysseus, who is characterized by self-preservation, and Aeneas, a man defined by his selfless dedication to his people and the gods.
Furthermore, the first thing Virgil’s protagonist says is “four times luckier were those who died before their parents’ eyes under Troy’s high walls!..if only I had been killed” (B1:112; 115). This statement parallels the many times in the Odyssey that Odysseus claims to wish he were dead or is tempted to throw himself into the sea, but the key difference between the two is that Aeneas means it. When Odysseus wishes for death, it is because he has an audience to deceive and manipulate, whereas Aeneas wishes for death only in privacy. In front of his people, Aeneas puts up a front of bravery, saying “Trojans! This is not our first taste of trouble. You have suffered worse than this, my friends, and God will grant an end to this also” (B1:234-236). The difference in their approach is rooted in the fact that both desire survival, but while Odysseus is only concerned with survival of self, it is the preservation of his people that concerns Aeneas. The contrast between heroes emphasizes Aeneas’s role as Rome embodied, not a single man, but a nation. Virgil’s protagonist is introduced first without a name, then surrounded by a crew, afraid but defined by his loyalty and purpose.
Not only are the two heroes different in how they are introduced, but also in how they face comparable trials. Both Odysseus and Aeneas are exiles from home, and both are desperate for home, but they approach their voyages in completely different ways. Odysseus is driven by a selfish desire to return to Ithaca, whereas Aeneas seeks out Rome not for himself but for his people and for his obedience to the will of the gods. Odysseus has a fixed home, a location to hold in his mind as an ideal, but Aeneas has a much less concrete definition, only a prophecy to obey and a people to protect. This difference is made evident when Aeneas faces Scylla and the Cyclops’s island in Book 3. Unlike Odysseus, he does not let any personal curiosity endanger his men, and so makes it through the same trials without the same heavy losses. In both instances, the heroes approach their trials in vastly different ways. Odysseus uses his “teeming mind” to come up with a scheme or ploy to escape, but Pious Aeneas immediately turns to the gods for help, saying “we prayed to the holy power of the warrior goddess…[and] we offered the prescribed sacrifice to Argive Juno” (B3:634-635; 638-639). Yet again, it is proven that Odysseus is defined by his selfish motives whilst Aeneas is defined by selfless piety to his men and to the gods.
The contrast between Aeneas and Odysseus is further developed in the way that Virgil describes Aeneas’s view of Odysseus, calling him by his Roman name, Ulysses. The Greek hero is first mentioned in Book 2 when Aeneas is telling the tale of his home’s demise, and his name coincides with that of the Horse, the deceit through which the Greeks storm Troy. This pairing of Odysseus and deception is consistent with his character in the Odyssey, and the Greeks revere him for his cunning, considering it a virtue and the avenue through which they secure victory. In the Aeneid, on the other hand, the Trojans associate him with dishonor, as made evident when Laocoön, the only Trojan to question the Horse, asks his fellow countrymen if they “honestly think that any Greek gift comes without treachery? What is Ulysses known for?” (B2:54-55). Clearly, the only natural conclusion of his questions is that the Trojans considered Odysseus’s cunning to be a vice. Furthermore, after the war, the Trojans continue to nurse a deep hate for Odysseys, as shown when they sail past Ithaca “and cursed the island that nursed Ulysses” (B3:313-314). This abhorrence is rooted in different cultural values. Cunning is an aspect of the Greek Ideal, whilst the Roman Ideal is more concerned with piety and courage, as is consistent with Aeneas’s character throughout the book. This difference is sewn throughout Virgil’s narrative, painting Odysseus as a treacherous criminal, and Aeneas as an honest hero.
In conclusion, the Aeneid’s protagonist is contrasted against that of the Odyssey in a number of ways, including the way Odysseus and Aeneas are introduced, how they face trials, and how Virgil’s hero views his Greek counterpart. One is an isolated survivor, selfish, curious, and cunning, motivated only by a desire to return home. The other, a nameless exile, pious and courageous, yet defined by his greater purpose. In the end, Aeneas is the more compelling character, because he sacrifices the comforts and happiness that Odysseus spends his whole story seeking out. Aeneas does this because he is a part of something bigger than himself, and that selflessness is commendable.
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