Which scholar claims the poet sought to rival both the Homeric epics and perhaps surpass them, aiming to conquer the genre for Latin poetry?

• A. RD Williams - Greek heroism vs Roman heroism
• B. Richard Rutherford - Homeric influence
• C. Simon Swain - Book 6
• D. Ian Du Quesnay - Homeric influence

Answer: (C)

The main idea tested is the idea that Vergil’s Aeneid was written with an explicit aim to measure itself against Homer and even surpass him, in order to establish Latin epic as a serious rival to the Greek model. The best-supported scholar for this view is Simon Swain, especially in his focus on Book 6. Swain reads the underworld episode and its intertextual dialogue with Homeric epic as a deliberate move by Vergil to place Latin epic on equal footing with, and potentially above, the Homeric tradition. By framing Book 6 in a way that echoes Homer yet restructures it for a Roman context, Vergil isn’t just imitating; he’s contesting the prestige of Greek epic and claiming Latin poetry as capable of conquering the epic genre.

Other scholars in the list address Homeric influence or Greek-Roman heroism in epic, but their work does not foreground the claim that the poet consciously sought to rival and surpass Homer in order to conquer epic for Latin poetry, at least not in the same way Swain does with Book 6.