Odysseus and Aeneas, the two epic heroes who both visit the Underworld for their own reasons, are representatives of Greek and Roman cultures. The depictions of their journeys to Hades from The Odyssey by Homer and Virgil’s Aeneid leave us unlimited fantasies about the Underworld, and they let people start to think about the life and death. Some of Odysseus and Aeneas’ backgrounds and their experiences of visiting the Underworld are similar; however, their motivations, personality and developments are very different. Based on what I’ve read from The Odyssey and Aeneid, I think Aeneas is a greater hero, but Odysseus’s purpose, social status, characteristics and developments make him is better “brought to life”.
First of all, one of the reasons that why Odysseus is more like a human being than Aeneas is is their motivations for visiting the Underworld are different. Both of Odysseus and Aeneas are former soldiers in the Trojan War, but they are on different sides in this war. Aeneas wants to find a new place for him and the Trojan remnant to settle, so he goes to the Underworld for visiting Anchises-who can gives him directions to his future. In the case of Odysseus, his purpose of heading to Hades is not that noble. He just wants to go back to his home after the destruction of Troy, and he needs to know how could he do that by asking Tieresias. From their motivation, I think Aeneas is a selfless person. According to Aeneid, “Roman, remember by your strength to rule/Earth’s peoples—for your arts are to be these.”(Aeneid VI) He makes scarifies for his companies, he seeks good for his people. He is a hero leader. Nevertheless, Odysseus goes to the Underworld for his own wish: He wants to go home. The meaning of home to most of human beings is very special; home is the final destination, and we need to go back to home eventually. Odysseus also treats home as the final