Furthermore, Virgil himself often was inspired by Homer. Virgil is now often times compared to Homer, the conclusion being that Homer is superior to Virgil. However, there has been a different trend in modern society. He inspired many poets such as Dante, and Milton in English. Virgil’s popularity soared throughout the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance. To use fate as an explanation for changes in leadership was an easy way to justify the rule of Augustus.ĭespite the definite political leanings the Aeneid has, it is still a great epic poem. In establishing the foundations of Rome, Virgil often foreshadows the eventual rule of Augustus, perhaps to placate critics who claimed that the emperor ruled because of treachery. Luckily enough, he gained the favor of Augustus therefore the Aeneid serves to legitimize the reign of this benefactor.

Politically speaking, Virgil lived at the height of the first age of the Roman Empire– during the reign of Augustus. However, Emperor Augustus intervened and, to the great benefit of Western culture, had the poem published. At his death, he ordered the destruction of the Aeneid. The Aeneid took eleven years to complete, and even then Virgil did not consider the epic fit for publication. Shortly after finishing Georgics, a long poem on farming, he began his masterwork, the Aeneid, the story of the founding of Rome.

The Aeneid written by Virgil, the best known of Roman poets. This puts the third work to be discussed, the Aeneid just a little over seven centuries younger than the Iliad and the Odyssey. Should this have happened, it was likely around the eighth century B. Interestingly, the style of the Iliad, its similarity to the Odyssey, cast of characters and their portrayal all support the belief that they were the work of a one author, who took familiar stories and worked them into two major works. The Iliad in particular, is an especially well documented oral tradition, and its stories would have been quite familiar to Homer’s audiences before the epic was written down. Certainly, it is known that the stories that comprise these two works come from a long mythological tradition.

The odyssey the iliad the aeneid