What does this sentence mean ?

Question

『Virgil borrows Homeric turns of phrase, similes, sentiments, and whole incidents; his Aeneas, like Achilles, sacrifice prisoners to the shade of a friend and, like Odysseus, descends alive to the world of the dead.』

1. Who are the prisoners sacrificed by Aeneas and Achilles respectively to the shades of their friends?

2. Who are their friends to whom they sacrifice prisoners respectively?

Answer 1

It is talking about the similarities between Homer's "Odyssey" and Virgil's "Aeneid".

In both stories the respective heroes enter the underworld.

To answer your specific questions, you will have to read the relevant sections of the books (I think you can read them on line at Project Gutenberg), because I don't remember the specifics - its a long time since I've read either book.

You need "The Odyssey" Book XI and "The Aeneid" Book VI.

Hope this helps a bit.

Answer 2

It means Virgil (The Aeneid - Roman) plagiarized Homer (The Iliad and The odyssey - Greek).
Read them both and get the best from the horses' own mouths

Answer 3

You need a big fat Humanities textbook my friend.