Why doesn’t the Aeneid get more hype?

I’m a classics undergrad atm (later hoping to move into Ancient Phil) and I gotta say after reading the Aeneid I was totally floored. Every line feels like it is open to interpretation and is so rich with meaning.

My favorite moment was when Aeneas takes his sword (no longer encumbered by Carthaginian adornments) and like a flash of lightning cuts the ropes to his ship as Dido kills herself with another sword of Aeneas’.

The likening to a flash of lightning to me represents Jupiter and Aeneas’ obligations given to him by the gods. The ropes being cut and the sword being bare represent a people (the Trojans) and a destiny no longer being shackled by Earthly desires and decadence. The Trojans immediately feel liberated and ready the ships with the same ardour. Meanwhile such a dream of imperial glory requires the death of the beautiful Dido - Virgil wants us to ask ourselves: was it worth it?

Nearly every part of the Aeneid sticks with me and has me thinking for a long time after I read it. I can’t say the same about the Odyssey for example. With Homer I can appreciate a very (VERY) rich world and while I consider the Homeric works some of the best works of mankind they were never as deep to me. When I write essays on Homeric works I usually wish I was writing essays on the Aeneid - there’s just so much more depth to work with.

To me Virgil took everything that was great about the Odyssey and the Iliad and refined them into the first and second half of the Aeneid respectively. He did the same with Theocritius’ works when he wrote the Georgics.

And whilst in pre-Victorian times most people interested in the classics would tell you that Virgil was the best poet, nowadays I feel he is slightly ignored in favor of Homer. I suppose it may reflect a changing political climate. I remember that Philip Hardie wrote in “The Last Trojan Hero” that he doubted the Aeneid would ever regain its past popularity due to its imperial themes.

Anyway, what are your thoughts and experiences on this topic?