Primary Epic Heroes in the Aeneid and Iliad
The creation of epics depends on the impact of the heroes to their respective societies. These primary heroes display such similar characters as their respective abilities to guide their societies. Differences on the primary heroes include their diverse in the approach of performing their required tasks in the narration. The two epics present heroes who differ in the following ways. First, the Aeneid is literary epic while the Iliad is oral. This suggests that the creation of the epic hero in the Aeneid was largely from traditional aspects of that society. Such aspects include the necessity to create a hero who would in turn deliver his society from certain curses from the gods.
A significant difference in the creation of these two heroes in the epics is the times in which they undertake their respective responsibilities. For example, while the Aeneid presents the escape strategies from the Trojan wars. This suggests that the hero in the Aeneid helps his society in establishing the strategies. The Iliad describes the occurrences of the last year of the same Trojan War. The epic hero in the Iliad seems to clean up the impacts of the war in his society because this is the end of the war. The creator of Aeneas took a longer time in the creation of this narration than the time taken by the creator of the Iliad.
Achilles is the epic hero in the Iliad while Aeneas plays the epic hero in the Aeneid. Achilles ensures that there is sufficient personal glory for him. He is selfish in most of his endeavors because the war is not among his priorities. The creator of this epic seems to suggest that it is wrong to display such intensities of selfishness. Throughout the epic, there seems to be a plea against selfishness or disobedience of the existing laws. The authors thought, to imply that the hero has such traits are proof of the message that he wishes to pass even to modern readers.
Both heroes realize that they must die during the narration of the epic. A significant dissimilarity in this issue of mortality is the reception that the two heroes display. For example, Achilles ensures that all events that happen will make people glorify him. He even creates funeral games that probably explain his quest for mortality. Achilles mother reveals that he would die at some point in his life. This keeps disturbing him because of the constant fights he launches against many enemies. This quest for self-glorification seems to be the chief inspiration of all the actions that he displays in the epic.
Aeneas gets his inspiration for his actions from a different glorification. It is always his hope that there is sufficient glorification for the roman gods. He benefits from this glorification of the gods because they guide him when he is lost. For example, when Aeneas gets lost and does not know where to go, the gods show him the direction out of the Mediterranean. Other gods, for example, Jupiter make significant interventions in his life. Aeneas builds the carthage with Dido hoping that he continues doing this, but Jupiter reminds him of his duties. Unlike the other hero (Achilles), he does not conflict any of the gods. He appreciates that he must please the gods, and leaves Dido. A significant lesson from his heroism is the fact that he would be selfish in everything he did.
Aeneas displays dissimilar traits from Achilles because of his intense submissive acts to the gods. Several excuses could prevent this hero not to obey the gods in their entire instructions. He could still undertake all his responsibilities without compromising his happiness. For example, he wishes to spend a significant part of his life with Dido, but cannot do that. This is because he believes that the gods matter more than his happiness. This does suggest that it would be acceptable to disobey, but compromise certain matters that are less significant.
Achilles has numerous enemies because of the continuous acts of bravery that he displays. This makes his endeavor to be less successful because he creates several elements that work against him. The divisions on his spear are representative of the confusions that govern his character. He seems to want all powers that he cannot even control. The greed for this power is negative in the development of both his character and duties. He fails in being positively exceptional in his behavior. Instead, his numerous enemies derail his focus in assisting his society. This means that he fails, and no one wishes to have such pride as the one he displays in the epic. Aeneas has a desirable future because his deeds seem to be acceptable. The gods also seem to be helping this hero because of the levels of allegiance that he displays to them.
Aeneas visits his father in the underworld and in turn fulfills significant Greek philosophies. During the journey to the underworld, he encounters extreme problems. These problems do not derail his quest or absence to the gods. Instead, he ensures that he reaches the underground and speaks to his father. The deaths of some of his crewmembers do not seem to prevent his continuation with the journey that he begins after the epic fully develops.
These two epics seem to present similar protagonist who have exemplary characteristics. Both epics suggest that their respective protagonist should get help from gods. They are heroic in their deeds and almost resemble the gods because they frequently interact with them. At the beginning of each epic, the two heroes have swords that are symbolic in different ways. The symbolism of the swords is probably in the societal expectation of the heroes to lead. Leadership has diverse challenges that necessitate the presence of such symbolic swords.
Their similarities are in diverse ways that include the respective reasons for their creations. Both epics attempt to highlight the impact of the Trojan War to their respective civilizations. The creation of the Aeneid borrows significantly from the strategies that the Iliad employs in its narration. This is because Homer had adequate information about the former when creating the later epic.
The chief aim of the stories that focus on these heroes is to display the significance of leadership in both modern and old societies. The attributes that the two authors give their respective heroes highlights this significance. Their similarities suggest that there are traditional guidelines that enable heroes or leaders be successful. The differences are obvious indications of negative impacts of pride in any leader.
