Why should you read the Odyssey in 2026?

Because it is not just an ancient poem—it is “our story.”

Homer’s epic opens with a single word: “man.” From that moment, Odysseus becomes every one of us—wrestling with fate and free will, clinging to the sacred idea of home, choosing his humanity over divine immortality, and learning what the gods will demand of him to rectify the injustice that consumes his house.

This isn’t dusty literature (nor something malleable to modern man’s ideologies).

It’s the fountainhead of Western civilization, the poetic training ground for Plato, and a surprising preparation for the coming of the Christ.

Here are 10 reasons to read the Odyssey.