#i would have included vergil if i'd found a free translation of his works i liked but i did not so...

[ihavedonenothingright]

I try my best to be neutral about things I don't really like, but I think we need to reframe the way we discuss the classical world. I'm not saying you can't have fun with it—I think it's fascinating, and that's why I study it—but the Greek Mythology resurgence has led to a kind of weird mentality surrounding ancient religion, culture, and languages. There is no set 'canon' here, or 'one true version' of a myth; what we think of as Greek Mythology is a collection of stories pulled together from hundreds of city states with their own unique oral traditions, smashed into one broader narrative by various historians and poets. The details are going to vary, and that's normal—especially because most people are reading these stories in translation. Even if there was One True Original Story, you have no way of knowing what that is unless you learn to read Homeric Greek. Which was already a challenge for most of the other Greek writers you're familiar with.

Go and enjoy Epic or anything else you like. I think it's cool that more people are being introduced to classic literature right now, and I really hope that trend continues. I just wish people understood that they're engaging with a piece of collective culture, not something cohesive like the MCU. Details are going to vary, ancient writers have different takes on things, and that does not automatically make them worthless. Please let your interest in Homeric work take you other places. You can find a lot of interesting works online—for free!—that either influenced the things you already like, or built off of them. So here are a few of my recommendations.

The Descent of Ishtar, read by Martin West. I think it's important to note that Greek religion was heavily influenced by other existing traditions, and vice versa, since a lot of people seem to believe Greece is the original and other cultures simply 'copied.' This translation here is really lovely, AND you get the chance to listen to reconstructed Akkadian.

The Hippocratic Corpus, translated by Francis Adams. This is a pretty decent translation, and worth a read because it highlights 1. theological debates happening in real time over the causes of different illnesses and 2. the tendency Greeks and Romans had to attribute all noteworthy developments in a single field to one person. Homer probably didn't exist, at least not in the capacity we often think of, and neither did Hippocrates—so many of the texts in his own 'corpus' are in complete disagreement with each other. That said, they're still extremely useful. Airs, Waters, Places is a particularly important read in my opinion because it is intentionally xenophobic. Half of this text is a justification for the natural inferiority of Persians and all cultures ruled by or allied with the Achaemenid Empire, and this is not an uncommon opinion in Ancient Greek writing. I think it's important more people are aware of that since Ancient Greece is frequently idealized. Plus you'll get to read some VERY strange descriptions of human anatomy. Wait until you find out about how sperm makes your hair turn white.

Parallel Lives by Plutarch. Later Greek writers often get overlooked in favor of their predecessors, but Plutarch is particularly interesting because of the gap he's choosing to bridge: each section of Parallel Lives is a comparison between a significant Greek historical figure, and a significant Roman one. I can't not include Plutarch, especially since his section on Alexander the Great is one of our best sources of information on the man (no, seriously, we have lost SO much information over time). Anyway, I highly recommend it as a read. Perseus (the reading software) can be a little bit finicky, but this translation is pretty solid compared to some of their other, older available works.