I'm sure someone here has read Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and also Plato's Republic. At least I hope someone has.

My question is: Are those books relevant reads in today's society? Does reading them give a person knowledge or grasp that is needed?

Oh and to anyone who has read any ancient greek or 'other' books are they interesting reads, and worth the struggle to get through them?

They are interesting, but long and boring. If you can get through it, they are very thought-provoking and semi-relevant, or at least Plato is, if not Homer.

I have read Homer's Iliad and Odyssey.

It takes a while to get into them due to the hard vocabulary and the great number of characters (gods and heroes). But once you get use to it you can enjoy the books.

I don't think they are relevant in today's society, unless you are interested in ancient mitology. But anyway I found Iliad a fun book to read.

Homer's epics are pretty much the first milestone of western literature. The history of mankind may have been decided by great inventions and bloody battles, but storytelling, poetry and music is what kept it's heart beating.

Originally posted by Moss321
I'm sure someone here has read Homer's Iliad and Odyssey and also Plato's Republic. At least I hope someone has.

My question is: Are those books relevant reads in today's society? Does reading them give a person knowledge or grasp that is needed?

Oh and to anyone who has read any ancient greek or 'other' books are they interesting reads, and worth the struggle to get through them?

Are they relevant? That all depends on what you mean by "relevant". That is, they won't directly help you become a millionaire, but they might give you some insight into the soul of our culture. At any rate, reading them on your own probably won't give you an appreciation of the themes within them, so you should also look at the secondary literature. For example, it is one thing to look at the metaphysical themes within the Republic, but it is another thing to know how they have influenced Western thought.

As for other books, I quite enjoyed Augustine's Confessions and the Frogs by Aristophanes.

yes they are good reads- at least the Illian and Odyseey- if you can find a LITERAL translation, and not one fo the lyric poetry filled peoces of crap that have so lobng defined what homer was supposed ot b elike- no, no, he told hius stroy in eveyr day greek- and you NEED to find a translation in every day english (or native language) to truelly enjoy his work- I suggest you serch penguin books, they have a translation of both that are litteral, and I have read both, and have found them immenslly more entertainign then what the poetic versions offer