Have you ever thought about reading The Iliad, then decided that hacking through a swamp of stodgy language and exhausting Dactylic Hexameter sounds like a lot of work?

No worries, my friend. I got you.

Countless translations of the classic poem exist, along with interpretations of the story in novels, comic books, movies, tv shows, and everything in between. The name “Helen of Troy” has survived in popular culture to this day, and “Achilles’ heel” is such a common metaphor that when I typed “Achilles,” “heel” was the first option for autocomplete.

But what do we really know about what happened at Troy? I’m not talking about historical accuracy, but how was it remembered in the Ancient World? Perhaps more importantly, can an epic poem carried over from the oral tradition, an ancient story that has survived for thousands of years, claim any significance today?

I think it can and does. Follow me and the Muses on a journey through the world of Homer’s Iliad. Bear witness to the shenanigans of a bunch of bros, and decide for yourself if there’s anything we can learn from their mistakes.

Book 1 — What’s Beef?