Classics Scholars: World of the Hero

Parkes

"Aeneas does deceive Dido by going along with the marriage. However, it is also Dido who has deluded herself"

P. Jones

"The structure [of books 9-12] means that the excitement is kept."

J. Morrison performance

"the Iliad and the Odyssey were performances to be heard, not books to be read."

A. Bowie

"Those who… have the wit and intelligence to cope with tricky situations, survive"

K. Mheallaigh

"story-telling plays an integral part to the poem" "the Odyssey is about telling stories"

A. Murray

"it is Penelope who remains firmly at the centre of the epic... [and] symbolises... his homecoming"

Louise Pratt

"Odysseus' identity is wrapped up in regaining his kingdom and restoring the balance in Ithaca"

J. Morrison hero

"Odysseus achieves glory in part by underhandedness, by stealth, and by deception... a tricky hero."

S. Tracy

"without kleos he is nothing"

Cowen

"Juno starts the storm out of jealousy and chaos"

Williams

“No superhuman figure… an ordinary mortal.”

Quinn

“(He wanted) an epic poem with himself as the hero.”

Sowerby Aeneas

“Aeneas shows none of the zest of adventure or resourcefulness associated with the Homeric Odysseus"

Gransden

"The Gods work through human wills and desires"

Camps

“The Aeneid is a poem wholly different in character from the Homeric Poems. Yet, it recalls them on every page.

Schein

“Powerful role of Penelope and women in general”

Sowerby Dido

“An innocent victim of Roman destiny.”

Mac Gorian

“Virgil's epic aimed to explore the concerns of Roman history through the vehicle of myth.”

Nusbaum

“(Aeneas is) the ideal Roman father figure!”