The temptation to frame Virgil in terms of his clearest predecessor (Homer) and his motivation (writing a Homeric poem singing the glories of Rome, by commission of the Roman emperor) is not slight, and the similarities are not few. Where Virgil excels is in how he synthesizes the Iliad and Odyssey-like elements into one long narrative, and what sets him apart is in how he handles the topic of the afterlife. Book VI is easily the most remembered part of this work for a reason; the descriptions of the underworld are extraordinary, beautiful and tragic. Reading the Fagles translation helps clarify the imagery, too.