Aeneid | Literary Qualities
Considerable length has become one of the standard criteria for defining the epic as a literary form. In an extended poem like the Aeneid, with its large cast of characters and a story line crowded with incident, the structure must be coherent. Over the years, critics have studied the twelve books of the Aeneid to determine their relationship to the whole shape of the poem. One conclusion is that the first six books, telling of the travels of Aeneas and his people in their search for a new home, resemble the general content and form of the Odyssey, while the second six,...
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