Homer,G.S. Kirk, The Iliad (Oxford World's Classics)

If people want you to read the Iliad they say things like: he's the father of western literature or: he stood at the cradle of our civilization. They probably are right but let me give you another reason to read the Iliad: the humour of Homer. I give two examples. When things turn sour for the Greeks and the Trojan soldiers almost destroyed their camp, Nestor - the military advisor for he's too old to fight - calls the young Greek soldiers at his side and tells them how brave and invincible he was when he was young. You can easily imagine the Greeks listening politely but impatiently to Nestor's sermon. What Nestor means is that the youth of today is worthless. I've heard this before. What makes you smile is the bragging of Nestor and the fact that apparently the youngsters are worthless since three thousand years.

Later on when some of the gods reproach Zeus with not helping the Trojans, he answers: 'You know my wife! If she finds out I'm helping Troy she will be mad at me!'If Homer was the father of literature then Zeus was the father of the henpecked husbands.