; thus, the first six books resemble theOdyssey, as Aeneas travels to Italy, while the second six books resemble the Iliad, as Virgil writes of the war between the Trojans and the Latins.

One of the most tragic stories in the Aeneid is the story of Dido—the founder and ruler of Carthage. As a queen, Dido is smart, just, and resilient; however, as a woman she is sensitive, emotional, and even fragile. The Gods make her fall in love with Aeneas, but ultimately she knows that their romance is not meant to be and that she is destined to suffer. In the end, furious and unable to mend her broken heart when Aeneas abandons her to fulfill his destiny, Dido prays that Carthage and Rome will forever be enemies and kills herself.

The Aeneid is far from a funny story; however, it does have some scenes and instances which can be characterized as comic and humorous, such as the boat race in book 5. Nonetheless, it is more of a tragic than a comic story, as Virgil often expresses his pessimistic view on life throughout the poem.

The Aeneid and the Odyssey are quite similar in structure; however, there are also some differences between the two. One difference is the fact that the Aeneid primarily focuses on Rome and its triumphs and failures as a nation, while the Odyssey focuses more on its main protagonist, Odysseus, and his adventurous journey back to Ithaca. There are also some notable differences between the main heroes as well. Aeneas is more righteous and noble, and the Gods wish to help him, while Odysseus is more cunning and mischievous, and the Gods try to make his journey back home harder and more challenging.

The Aeneid is an epic poem, and it is based on the Homeric epics, so it is not surprising that much of it is very similar to the Odyssey in tone and content. Some critics have observed that the first half of the Aeneid, in which Aeneas and his companions make the journey from Troy to Italy, is similar to the Odyssey, while the battles with Turnus in the second half more closely resemble the Iliad. Virgil is competing with his model, fitting twice as much material into half as many books, while building up a hero as resourceful as Odysseus, as brave as Achilles, and more purposeful than either.

There is practically no comedy in the Aeneid, though it is a comedy in the same sense as Dante’s Divine Comedy, since it has a happy ending. This is a long way from Aristophanic comedy, the vulgarity of which would have been altogether out of place in the national epic of Rome, sponsored by the Emperor Augustus himself.

Although the Aeneid is an epic poem in form, it does contain elements of tragedy. Most obviously, the doomed love affair between Dido and Aeneas, and the Queen’s dramatic death are tragic elements in the poem and have often been treated as a separate tragic story since, as they are in Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas.

Virgil's The Aeneid is in many ways a response to Homer's Greek epic, not only in how Aeneas is a Trojan, among the losers in Homer's work, but in its format. Virgil studied both of Homer's epics before creating his Roman answer to them. Several episodes in The Aeneid recall episodes in The Odyssey. For example, both epics feature journeys to the underworld and both encounter the Cyclops.

While The Aeneid is not packed with comedy, it does share some similarities with Aristophanes' The Frogs. In Aristophanes's play, the characters visit the underworld to reclaim the soul of the playwright Euridipes so he can revitalize the tragic theater scene, which the god Dionysus believes has waned since the playwright's passing. While the descent to the underworld in The Frogs is comedic, in The Aeneid it is treated seriously.

Finally, while The Aeneid as a whole is not tragic since it ends with Aeneas fulfilling his destiny by founding Rome, other characters emerge as tragic figures in the classical sense. Queen Dido of Carthage is the best example. She fits the classical mold of the tragic hero: she is of noble rank, a competent ruler of her people, and an essentially good woman. She is brought low by a fatal flaw: passion. Her love for Aeneas destroys her when he leaves her. Unable to move on, she kills herself.

Since the Aeneid is the national epic of Rome, written with the Homeric epics in mind as both models and competitors, almost any episode in the poem can be compared with the Odyssey. The opening lines of both epics, in particular, emphasize the exceptional man who is the hero and the dangers he will face on his voyage from Troy. Virgil implicitly compares Aeneas to Odysseus, though he is to have a longer journey and a nobler mission. He is not merely returning home, but fulfilling the will of the gods in founding a new city, which will grow into the greatest empire the world has ever seen.

Although it is an epic in form and structure, the Aeneid clearly has passages of tragedy, notably in book 4 when the love affair between Dido and Aeneas comes into conflict with the will of the gods, leading to Dido's death. This was later a popular subject for works of tragedy, such as Henry Purcell's opera, Dido and Aeneas.

The Aeneid contains almost no comedy and certainly no Aristophanic comedy. Augustus, Virgil's patron, would not have approved of the vulgar sexual comedy of Aristophanes. The poet who comes closest to writing like this (and even then, not very close) is Ovid, whom the Emperor famously banished. There are moments of dark humor in the Aeneid, such as the episode in book 10 where Virgil remarks that the parents of the twins Thymber and Larides have difficulty in telling them apart. This, however, will not be a problem in the future, since Pallas cuts the head off one and a hand off the other. The hand that has been cut off twitches, and Virgil remarks that it is groping for its sword. This is as close to comedy as the Aeneid ever gets, and it is not remotely similar to Aristophanes.

The Aeneid is doubtlessly an epic. Epics usually feature a hero who ventures from home to embark on a journey or quest. In Virgil's poem, Aeneas is forced onto this journey when Troy is destroyed. He must find a new home for his people, which will turn out to be Rome. In this sense, the Aeneid is similar to The Odyssey, which is also an epic. The main difference between the two is that Odysseus is trying to return home, while Aeneas wants to find a new home for himself and his people.

In terms of tragedy, while the Aeneid itself is not a tragedy, it does feature tragic fates for some of its characters. Queen Dido of Carthage is one such character. After a passionate love affair with Aeneas, Dido is heartbroken when he breaks off the relationship to continue his quest. She ends up killing herself, destroyed by her tragic flaw: an overabundance of passion. The Odyssey does not feature similar tragic elements.

Finally, when it comes to comedy, the Aeneid could only be considered a comedy in the broadest sense. For the most part, the story lacks humor. The Odyssey does have comic moments and even a humorous protagonist in the wily, cunning Odysseus. However, the Aeneid is only a comedy in that it has a happy ending. Scholar Christine Perkell states in an essay that because from the beginning of the poem, "the poet's anticipation of the hero's triumph marks the Aeneid formally as a comedy," it could technically be considered as such. Comedies tend to take an unhappy situation, such as the forced separation between two lovers, and show how the bad situation is made right in the end, usually culminating in a wedding. Such a transformation happens in the Aeneid. Aeneas goes from a nationless wanderer to the founder of Rome.

As a result, the Aeneid has a more ambiguous genre placement than The Odyssey. The Odyssey could be considered an epic comedy, but because the Aeneid has both tragic and comic elements, its genre is harder to place beyond its being an epic.