Not Just a Fanfiction: A Cross-Comparison of the Aeneid and the Odyssey

I wrote this essay for my final project in Classical World. Classical World was a class where I feel my writing capabilities within the Classics major greatly improved. It was not that I had poor writing habits, for the most part I scored highly on essays throughout the class, rather it was where I explored just how creative I could be when given the opportunity.

I count this essay as a success in part because it is the highest I have ever scored on a college paper, but also because I thoroughly enjoyed writing it. I took a brave approach at discussing the “Roman problem,” and my approach paid off. It was this class that taught me that not all college papers had to be filled with theory and jargon, and that some of the best papers are ones written with your voice in them.

I do not know that I would ever re-do the assignment. However, I remember quite clearly having to pare down my topic in order to meet the maximum page requirement. If I ever had the chance, I would probably expand it into a larger paper discussing the Roman problem as well as the idea of classical reception in the ancient world, seeing as Virgil’s Aeneid is a form of classical reception.