Homer

Virgil

Composed for recitation and for an audience

Written for readers

Freer and looser; less closely patterned

Concerned with perfection of the word—exquisite words

Integral/discrete episodes

A stylist—concerned with reader’s scrutiny

Oral art

Fashions sentence carefully

Operates with phrases and formulas

Poetic texture

Simplicity, strength, straightforward

Social ideal of heroism

Values physical prowess and intellectual wit of the individual

Political (national) ideal of heroism

Fame of individual heroes; personal concept of heroism

Sacrifice of the hero’s personal identity

Self-fulfillment and identity of the individual hero—no national concept

Love concern—romance