Uncertainty Under the Sea: A Motif Motivating Heroism in the Aeneid and Moby Dick (2010)

Undergraduate: William Dworsky

Faculty Advisor: Inger Brodey
Department: Comparative Literature

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The epic genre has, through its most notable members, given rise to certain repeated conventions, patterns and motifs. Among them is the role the sea often plays in developing literary significance. In more modern times, the nature of epic has become more elastic, even going beyond its traditional poetic boundaries. Still, even in novel appearance, many of the same elements emerge, regardless of form. Thus, a comparison of Virgil’s Roman epic the Aeneid and Herman Melville’s American whaling epic Moby Dick may focus on the role of the sea in each author’s fictional conception. Apart from more traditional emphases such as the political and mythological, uncontrollable bodies of water introduce greater dynamics for interpretation and, in the consideration of these two works, offer a context for contrasting classical and modern conceptions of epic. Seen in its function as a boundary or destination, its hosting of storms, and its connection with reflection and images, the sea, as treated separately by Virgil and Melville, may illustrate an opposition of classical confidence in man and a more uncertain modern existentialism.
Meanwhile, the commonalities between the texts cannot be overlooked. Conceptions of heroism, while prone to gradual modification, have underlying themes that transcend centuries. These can link the two epics, as Aeneas, Ishmael, and Queequeg, on the metaphorical heroic journey, are developed to differing degrees within the narratives.