As a teacher of classical literature for over twelve years, I am excited to be offering a course on The Iliad for adults this summer. Here are ten reasons why you should put down your phone and pick up a book this summer!
1. The Iliad is the first book in Western culture and one of our oldest stories. It was written down around 850 B.C., just when the Greek alphabet was being invented. But it’s older than that. The story (or elements of the story) had been passed down via oral tradition for hundreds of years by the Mycenaeans, the ancient Greeks’ early ancestors. The story is set during the Trojan War, which probably happened in the late Bronze Age, around 1250 B.C.
2. About The Iliad, Simon Weil once wrote: “Nothing that the peoples of Europe have since produced has been worth the first poem to have appeared among them.” (We’ll be discussing the essay in which that quote appears as part of the class.) Here’s an idea: How about instead of binging on the latest, depressing piece of crap produced by Netflix, you spend those 10-20 hours reading the greatest thing to ever come out of Western civilization? (The Iliad is also kind of depressing, but it is also at times funny, always poignant, and incredibly beautiful.)
3. Poetry is a branch of knowledge. If you go to the Stanza della segnatura in the Palace of the Vatican in Rome, you can look up and see four frescos that Raphael painted representing philosophy, theology, poetry, and law. “The Parnassus” depicts Apollo, the god of music and poetry, along with the Muses; Homer is there, on the left in blue. Why is poetry a branch of knowledge? Perhaps William Carlos Williams said it best:
It is difficult
to get the news from poems
yet men die miserably every day
for lack
of what is found there.
4. The Iliad reminds us of the effects of sin, specifically the sin of wrath. If you have a short temper, lash out at people, and hold grudges; if you too frequently ruminate on the weaknesses of others; if you have ever done anything out of spite, just because you felt “dissed” (disrespected); if you have ever thought to yourself, “I’ll show them!”, then first of all, join the club! Wrath stems from pride, the mother of all vices. Sometimes one great poem is worth a million sermons. This poem might just save your life, by reminding you of the possibility of spiritual death. It might help you get over that thing, that thing you keep obsessing about, you know the one…
5. You need a dopamine detox. We’ve all spent the last 10-15 years developing a terrible addiction. Our lives are nothing but time—and oh, how we’ve piddled it away! Our powers of concentration are totally shot. It’s so hard to pick up a book and read anymore, isn’t it? But I am tired of blue light, aren’t you? I am sick of scrolling through “content,” hunched over some device, engaging in the passive and solitary consumption of information. I am sick of information, period. I crave what is timeless and universal! I am sick of listening to podcasts, to other people’s conversations. I want to have great conversations again, with other people! But reading, especially reading epics, is hard. That’s exactly why you should do it. And do it in a group. There will be some accountability built in. Force yourself to sit in silence, and pay attention, and turn another page. Wake up! Engage your brain! Reclaim your life! De-zombify!
6. Set an example for your children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews, goddaughters and godsons. If you want the people who look up to you to read, you have to read. If you want them to grow up to become lifelong learners, you have to model lifelong learning. You could even invite them to take the class with you. Western culture is a Great Conversation. Join it. Dive in together! If nothing else, you can tell your children or grandchildren about what you are reading, and maybe one day they will want to read it too. This is how we preserve our culture, not through digitizing every library but by telling the great stories again and again—in joy and remembrance, in fear and trembling.
7. War has always been totally evil and totally dumb. The Trojan War supposedly started because one guy ran off with another guy’s wife. Thousands of men fought for twelve years and the war destroyed the entire Mycenaean world somehow. My students always say: “This war is so dumb!” They are right, for one reason because it is so grotesquely out of proportion. I recently recorded a podcast on which my guest was bemoaning Israel’s lack of proportion in fighting the war in Gaza. He seemed to see the “Just War” doctrine as some kind of solvent for war’s insanity. To me, Homer is a thousand times more realistic, showing us exactly how war becomes a perpetual motion machine of evil, and why it is so hard to stop once it starts.
8. Classical literature gives you perspective. We all need perspective. Perspective is good for mental health. Ecclesiastes 1:9: “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”
9. Classical literature can deepen your appreciation of Christianity and help you grow in faith. Isaiah 43:19: “Behold, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it?” Revelation 21:5: “And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new!”
10. Cultural literacy. Homer only wrote two books, so if you read The Iliad, you’ll be able to read The Odyssey with us in January, and then you’ll be able to go around bragging, saying, “I’ve read the complete works of Homer.” (It will sound impressive because most people don’t know he only wrote two books.) Once you’ve read the complete works of Homer, you’ll be able to watch Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of The Odyssey, coming out in 2026, with a critical eye. You’ll be able to appreciate his film and compare it to Homer’s original work. You’ll be able to know what is new and what is not new and whether Nolan’s adaptation is true, and you’ll be able to discuss the film with other students of Homer. (What’s a great book, or a great film, without a great conversation?)
(Note: “Because Elon Musk recommended it” is not on the list.)
So, in summary, by reading The Iliad this summer, you can reclaim your cultural heritage and be empowered by the knowledge it provides. You can take back your brain from the tyrants of tech, those greedy little thieves of your precious time and attention. You can connect with others and join in the Great Conversation of Western civilization, while setting an example of lifelong learning for those around you. You can reflect on the role of violence in this world, and you might even discover new dimensions of your faith, as you think more deeply about the Way Jesus taught us on how to conquer evil and death. You might even escape some potential spiritual death, by finally surrendering what is dead, that which you may have been holding onto for far too long. Don’t be like Achilleus. Choose life — your one, unique, precious, eternal and non-repeatable life! This is one way to live it, more deeply, more intentionally, and more richly, this summer.
If you want to test the waters, join me for my (first ever) livestream on YouTube on May 26. We’ll read through the first lines of The Iliad together. The class starts June 3rd!
The post Read a Book. Save Yourself. Save the World. appeared first on LewRockwell.