Virgil and the Quran Heroes Walker 1

Tien Walker

Professor Linda Hardie

CH 201.1006

March 23, 2021

Virgil and the Quran Heroes

Virgil's epic poem was written between the 29 and 19 B.C. and is a story of a band of

people who managed to survive the Greek siege of Troy. The band was led by the famous

mythical hero of Virgil Aeneas. Aeneas accepts his destiny of leading the Greeks even though he

does not understand it but he accepts it anyway. He is a special kind of hero among the Greeks

because he was a selfless hero and who accepted his destiny. These aspects have made him be a

celebrated hero who is still celebrated today. The Quran has another hero who is held in high

regard. Ibn Ishaq was an Arab Muslim historian who collected oral traditions which are

responsible for the biography of the Islamic Prophet Muhammad. He is considered a hero among

the Muslims because it is through his work that they know about the prophet they hold highly.

Quran is sometimes called the lord’s prayer of the Muslims making it an essential

element of all Muslims. There is no solemn contract or transaction that can be completed without

reciting the Quran. Considering it was the works of Ishaq that contributed to the writing of the

Quran, he automatically became a hero for he documented the life of the person they regarded

highly. Both the Aeneid and the Quran are culminations of divine trilogies as the Aeneid

documents the story of the Iliad and odyssey while the Quran tells the Hebrews' story through

the Trojan exodus, which led to the foundation of Rome, a key city among the Greeks. For the

Quran, it leads to the culmination of Israel because of the story of Exodus from Egypt led by

their hero Aeneas.

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Aeneid’s story derived from Virgil is important in the contemporary world because it

shows how a leader should be and is founded on moral grounds that indicate how stewardship

decisions should be made as well as how leaders should carry themselves. Additionally, the

Aeneid was first written to enhance the Augustan legitimacy of the Augustan principle while

delivering a cohesive national identity with distinct traditional roman virtues (Ahn, pp 1). Such

virtues were considered key to the peaceful co-existence, and prosperity of the Roman Empire.

Also, the Aeneid is crucial in that it provides key lessons regarding leadership elements of visual

culture and values that have been carried on through generations since. Therefore, the Virgil is a

crucial document to modern leadership with Aeneas's sacrifices and commitment as an excellent

leader to learn from despite the challenges he faced. On the other hand, Ibn Ishaq’s

documentation of Muhammad’s story helped significantly in developing laws that are still been

used today. Such are laws on taxation, land ownership, and matters theology (Holeman, pp. 2).

Also through his life before documenting the life of Muhammad, he was from a humble

background where he was born f an Arab prisoner but was freed after accepting Islam. Unlike

Aeneas Muhammad’s life and sacrifice may influence how he later transformed to become an

icon and through his work became the greatest biographer of the Prophet Mohammad.

The Quran plays a crucial role among the Muslims and the Romans as the story of

Aeneas portraying what a leader should be like as well as depicting how Rome came to be

through his sacrifices. Ibn Ishaq’s heroism is seen among Muslims as it is through his

documentation of the life of the Prophet Muhammad that the many teachings which they abide to

religiously came to pass through generations.

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Works Cited

Ahn, Mark J. "Is The Aeneid Relevant To Modern Leadership?” Victoria University
of Wellington, 2011.
Holeman, James. "Looking Behind the Veil of an Idealized Past: The Useful Legacy
of a False Prophet". The Osprey Journal of Ideas and Inquiry, 2006, pp. 2-33.
Accessed 21 Mar 2021.
Knox, Bernard, and Robert Fagles. The Aeneid. Viking, 2006, pp. 74-102.
McAuliffe, Jane Dammen. The Qur'an. W. W. Norton & Company, 2017, pp. 3-15.
Vergilius Maro, P et al. The Aeneid- The Tragic Queen Of Carthage. Viking, 2006.