The Aeneid - Summary The Aeneid begins and ends with parallels to the Iliad, inviting us to consider Virgil's poetry in light of Homer's. The Aeneid is both a tribute to the Homeric style--by imitating it--and an attempt to better it. And perhaps, Virgil is not quite being fair to himself when he invites that comparison; Virgil does not have the Iliad's tragic irony, and Aeneas is not as powerful a main character as Achilles. …showed first 75 words of 570 total…

…showed last 75 words of 570 total…is himself the foil, but he does not fail to gain from the passionate love and hatred of Dido, or the violent anger of Turnus. This means of developing the main character was greatly improved by Dante and Shakespeare; and yet their debt is to Virgil. This is why the Roman poet was at the center of a classical Western education for over a millennium, and today is still considered the greatest writer in Latin.