I wrote the GP comment. Thanks for your comment; it clarifies my thinking and expands my perspective.
Let's not conflate (and I failed to differentiate) Ancient Greece and 'Classical' Greece. The Odyssey and Iliad are older than Classical Greece, the term I'm using for the world of the philosophers, mathematicians, playwrights, etc. I understand that that the two works were core texts for the Classical Greeks, but my impression is that they were from prior 'civilization' (maybe not the perfect term), perhaps like Beowulf is to people in the modern anglo world.
The world of the Ancient Greeks is completely alien to ours, IMHO. Its culture, morality, behavior, customs, etc. are all so different that all we have in common with it as what any humans have in common. Read the Odyssey from a modern perspective - it's bizarre, inexplicable in modern context. For example, Odysseus is a complete failure as a person, a leader, a spouse - he only survives and accomplishes anything because Athena bails him out. The only way to understand it is to try to grasp the Ancient Greek context, where it does make sense. That makes it very interesting and valuable, but it's alien.
Still, I overstated my point in the GP. Alien or not, it is part of our culture, even if mostly indirectly - generations have read it, have been influenced by it, and what it influenced was passed down to us, and we pass it to the next generation. There's no question of that.
> We examined a play by Sophocles in high school literature. Civics class inevitably brings up Athenian democracy. Philosophy began with Thales. Music began with Pythagoras.
Let's not conflate (and I failed to differentiate) Ancient Greece and 'Classical' Greece. The Odyssey and Iliad are older than Classical Greece, the term I'm using for the world of the philosophers, mathematicians, playwrights, etc. I understand that that the two works were core texts for the Classical Greeks, but my impression is that they were from prior 'civilization' (maybe not the perfect term), perhaps like Beowulf is to people in the modern anglo world.
The world of the Ancient Greeks is completely alien to ours, IMHO. Its culture, morality, behavior, customs, etc. are all so different that all we have in common with it as what any humans have in common. Read the Odyssey from a modern perspective - it's bizarre, inexplicable in modern context. For example, Odysseus is a complete failure as a person, a leader, a spouse - he only survives and accomplishes anything because Athena bails him out. The only way to understand it is to try to grasp the Ancient Greek context, where it does make sense. That makes it very interesting and valuable, but it's alien.
Still, I overstated my point in the GP. Alien or not, it is part of our culture, even if mostly indirectly - generations have read it, have been influenced by it, and what it influenced was passed down to us, and we pass it to the next generation. There's no question of that.
> We examined a play by Sophocles in high school literature. Civics class inevitably brings up Athenian democracy. Philosophy began with Thales. Music began with Pythagoras.
That's 'Classical' Greece.