A nice appreciation of Homer

The Weekly Standard has an article attesting to the durability of Homer.

I can attest to the fact that the Odyssey appeals to all ages. I bought a child's version of it for my 6-year-old grandson, thinking it might be a bit too advanced for his interests, as well as too gory. (This is a kid who found Chicken Little scary.)

Anyway, I started to read it to him, and he seemed willing enough to sit and listen. When I got to the chapter about the Cyclops, I was a little apprehensive--after all, the Cyclops seized several of Odysseus's men and ate them alive, among other horrors. But the kid listened, so I soldiered on.

I was reading the part where Odysseus fools the Cyclops by telling him his name is Nobody, and proceeds to put the giant's eye out, when I heard peals of childish laughter. The kid was very taken by Odysseus tricking Cyclops. The fact that his eye was poked out didn't phase him at all. He loved this part of the story, and insisted that everyone in the family read it to him, over and over.

I concluded that different people bring different points of view to the classics.