Homer and Virgil are both well known in the history of Western literature with particular reference to epic poems. Virgil’s Aeneid is an epic poem which captures the stories of Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad into one piece. Virgil makes parallels in the Aeneid with episodes from Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad.
Both the Aeneid of Virgil and the Iliad of Homer have an episode of a duel between the heroes of the two main warring factions. The Aeneid ends with a duel between Turnus and Aeneas (Aeneid 12, 1178-1271) whereas the Iliad has an episode of a duel between Achilleus and Hektor (Iliad 22, 92-363). Even though there are few events which occur after the duel between Achilleus and Hektor in Iliad, the duel is a significant event in the last few books of the Iliad. On the first glance of the two duels, they seem to be similar, but upon critical reading, the reader comes to realize some crucial differences between these two duels. These differences help to enlighten the reader on the differences between Homer’s and Virgil’s style of epic poetry and how they present the heroes involved in the duels. Moreover, Virgil imitates his Homeric antecedent in some portions of the duel. This essay discusses Virgil’s imitations and departures from Homer’s style and how they reflect the differences between the antagonism between Achilleus and Hektor and that between Aeneas and Turnus.
Firstly, the most evident difference between the two duels is the number of lines dedicated to each of the duels. There are about 93 lines dedicated to the duel between Aeneas and Turnus whereas there are about 272 lines dedicated to the duel between Achilleus and Hektor (Aeneid 12 1178-1271, see also Iliad 22, 92-363). This reflects Virgil’s effort to compress this more extended Homeric episode into a shorter one while providing the same effect as Homer. However, Homer’s use of many lines for the duel between Achilleus and Hektor allows him to emphasize the cr...