Comparing Love In Aeneid And Homer's The Odyssey

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It is quite easy to say that romantic or sexual love in Virgil’s Aeneid and Homer’s The Odyssey serve as an obstacle to the main character achieving their eventual goals and perhaps even preventing the protagonists from achieving happiness. In Homer’s Odyssey, Odysseus is victim to women falling in love with him and obstructing his return to his home in Ithaca and in Virgil’s Aeneid, Aeneas is halted by one woman in particular on his journey as well. However, despite these examples of love being shown to be a negative force there are also examples of love serving as something motivational or constructive. Odysseus’ love for his wife is a large part of what motivates him to return home in the first place and allows him to persevere through many …show more content…
Rather than being intrinsically critical of love or sexuality, Homer is seemingly more critical of females in positions of power and attributes many of the hardships his main character Odysseus encounters to strong women. Homer’s goal is to ultimately return to his home in Ithaca and several obstacles, including two women with whom he has relationship, get in the way of his Nostoi (Return journey). Calypso is a minor nymph who resides on the island of Ogygia and begins a relationship with Odysseus after he lands on the island. Odysseus is in poor shape when he first encounters her and is in little position to make any demands and at first accepts Calypso’s sexual advances. Calypso in the work is shown to be quite powerful, possessing enough strength to keep Odysseus on Ogygia against his will, “by nights he would lie beside her…against his will, by one who was willing, but all the days he would sit upon the rocks, at the seaside, breaking his heart in tears and lamentation and sorrow as weeping tears he looked out over the barren water" (Odyssey 5.152-158). Odysseus although being rather weak initially is otherwise a very strong man so if she is able
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