"The Ancient Greek Hero in 24 Hours" by Gregory Nagy, Harvard prof on greeks.
Deepens your understanding of a different conception of a hero. According to Nagy, the heroes in Homeric poetry were not meant to be directly emulated like our modern Superman -- instead of a single character being the role model, you should take your inspiration from the whole story. All characters, all nuances, sequences of events, consequences and interactions.
Also gives you a much richer vocabulary for so many concepts still central to the human condition. English and other modern languages don't allow us to explore these in the same way.
In-depth, but provides a "civilizing experience" according to Nagy. And I suggest: don't read it as an engineer, so to speak. It's not code, or an academic paper. Read for inspiration and conceptual diversification. Broaden your toolbox for understanding the human condition.
Deepens your understanding of a different conception of a hero. According to Nagy, the heroes in Homeric poetry were not meant to be directly emulated like our modern Superman -- instead of a single character being the role model, you should take your inspiration from the whole story. All characters, all nuances, sequences of events, consequences and interactions.
Also gives you a much richer vocabulary for so many concepts still central to the human condition. English and other modern languages don't allow us to explore these in the same way.
In-depth, but provides a "civilizing experience" according to Nagy. And I suggest: don't read it as an engineer, so to speak. It's not code, or an academic paper. Read for inspiration and conceptual diversification. Broaden your toolbox for understanding the human condition.