Jan 1, 2010

Aeneid | Setting

The action of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey covers the ten years of the Trojan War and the ten years following the Greek defeat of Troy, during which time Odysseus tries to reach his home in Ithaca off the west coast of Greece. The customary date offered for the Trojan War is 1183 B.C., although many scholars believe that it occurred considerably earlier.

Vergil begins his story in the years following the final sack of Troy and uses as the hero of his epic the Trojan leader Aeneas, who is mentioned in the Iliad. Vergil chose Aeneas because his legendary ancestors...