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The Greek/Roman Cinematic Universe - Hailey Morgan

Might I just begin by saying how it is highly ironic that the three oldest epics (The Iliad, The Odyssey, and The Aeneid) are truly just one large trilogy taking place within the same cinematic universe? I mean, Marvel may be great and all, but Homer and Virgil really had it going on!

Each of these epics is bound together in time by one very specific event, the Trojan War. While The Iliad is a story that takes place during the war and The Odyssey is a tale about returning home from the war, The Aeneid is about fleeing the destruction of the war. Isn't it just wonderful when a series comes full circle like that? It just makes my heart so happy!

As someone who never had to read The Aeneid in high school, I always assumed that this epic was merely a boring rehashing of Roman history. While it is true that this work is a Netflix-style illustration of the Roman Empire's coming-of-age story, it is not nearly as dull as I had assumed. Books one through three really gave me Odyssey vibes as Aeneas faces many hardships on his journey to find a home for his people.

As much as the Romans sought to prove their superiority over the Greeks, the two nation's histories are so heavily intertwined. While the first two epics are tales of Greek heroism and victory, The Aeneid comes in at the last minute to prove just how powerful the underdog really is. I also noticed how Virgil attempts to make the Greeks look bad by writing about the infamous Trojan Horse. Though I believe the poet's  intention was to illustrate how crooked the Greeks (and subsequently the Carthaginians could be), Virgil sort of made the Trojans appear a bit dim-witted. Honestly, who just allows a random stranger to haul a two-ton wooden horse into the city in the middle of a war? Did nobody see the red flags or were they merely ignored? 

Edit - Replied to Braylan Stringfellow and Jacob Clabo.    

Comments

  1. Braylan StringfellowNovember 11, 2020 at 8:43 PM

    I love how you compared these works to the MCU. I mean these works were not written by the same person, just like each of the Marvel movies aren't directed by the same person. I thought the Aeneid was just a boring history of Rome too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Abigale BellNovember 12, 2020 at 12:01 AM

    I love your post! I think it's interesting how each epic adds another piece to the story. Just like each new Marvel movie adds a new aspect to the overarching story, so does each epic show a different aspect of the Trojan War.

    ReplyDelete

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