The Serious Role of the Gods in The Odyssey and Aeneid

book 4 of the Aeneid, Venus has already delayed the fates for entertainment purposes despite working for Aeneas. In book 8 of the Odyssey, Demodocus sings a humorous song about an inside joke among the gods to get Aphrodite and Hephaestus married. Though not a serious scene, it serves to cheer up Odysseus and does not affect the rest of the poem. Similarly, the Aeneid mentions a story about Venus and Vulcan, with added humor as Vulcan catches fire while flirting with her. The Odyssey's version portrays Hephaestus as a joke among the gods, while in the Aeneid, comedy is used purposefully by Venus to achieve her desired outcome.

Compared to the gods in the Odyssey who only intervene when mortals need them to, the gods in the Aeneid are more serious and focused on their own goals. Juno, in particular, works manipulatively to slow Aeneas down for personal gain, while Poseidon's efforts to slow Odysseus down were punitive. As a result, the Aeneid gods are viewed as more serious because they intervene when immortals want to. Juno plays a significant role in this reputation as she works to hinder Aeneas' progress, using Aeolus to send a storm and delaying him in Carthage, in addition to dispatching Allecto to incite war in Italy. Ultimately her intention is to prevent the Trojans from forming Rome and destroying Carthage.

Comparing the portrayal of gods in Aeneid and Odyssey reveals a difference in their seriousness. While Juno and Venus are depicted as working for their own personal gain, Poseidon and Zeus only interfere when they feel they have been wronged. In terms of comedy, while there are fewer such

scenes involving gods in the Odyssey, they do not seem to serve a purpose. In the Aeneid, however, comedic scenes involving gods have a structure and serve a purpose. For example, when Venus flirts with her husband and he catches fire, the comedy serves to highlight her motive. Both poems convey the serious purpose of the gods but in the Aeneid, it is accompanied by light-heartedness. In contrast, the gods in Odyssey are not portrayed for mere comic effect.

Despite performing less serious acts than the immortals in the Aeneid, all the characters in the Odyssey play a role in either hindering or helping Odysseus. Therefore, I do not think that they are just used for comic effect.