Epics contain elements of war, love, death, the gods and heroism. In the epics of The Odyssey and the Aeneid, there is a central protagonist who is on a journey from Troy, and along the way experiences delays and tragedies. Odysseus in The Odyssey and Aeneas in the Aeneid, both experience life and death and they each prevail, through their heroic deeds. They are amazingly talented and heroic warriors and always defeat their foes in war, despite their human weaknesses. In each scene, there is a constant depiction and influence of the gods and the immortals on many of their actions. Lastly, they are both the objects of unrequited love, Odysseus loved by Calypso and Aeneas loved by Dido.
But they differ in the portrayal of their protagonists. Odysseus is a virtuous Greek determined to return home to his family after fighting a long and bloody war against the Trojans. Aeneas is a refugee of Troy fleeing the destruction caused by the Greeks and journeys to establish a new homeland because of a prophecy. Odysseus is portrayed like a demigod with very little relatability to mortals. Aeneas is more relatable to his readers because of his human fears, being unsure of his actions and isn’t seen as an invincible hero. Both epics differ due to the fact that they were written in different eras during the reign of different empires. Virgil is writing over seven hundred years after the Odyssey was written. They also differ, because Virgil wrote as a proud Roman who glorified Rome, while Homer wrote from the perspective of an ancient Greek who glorified war and the gods.