Greek reason + Hebrew faith + Roman order = a world ready to receive Jesus Christ
To understand Greek reason, we start with Homer.
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The First Great Book - The Iliad is the first great book save the Bible. As we start with Genesis to understand the Hebrews, we start with Homer to understand the Greeks.
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Being an Excellent Man: Homer uses the heroes of the Trojan war as contrasts for the question of human excellence (arete). What is human excellence? What does it mean to be a good man? We are shown this question in Achilles v. Hector.
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Hospitality: Homer introduces us to guest-friendship (xenia)--an unwritten code of hospitality under the patronage of Zeus that governed the relationship between a guest and his host. It is an ethic that animates Greek thought and challenges our modern sensibilities.
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Groundwork for Plato & Aristotle: Homer is not a philosopher, but he is a teacher. Homer the teacher lays out several perennial questions on excellence, the gods, free will, etc., that are then taken up by the classic Greek philosophers. He is the foundation.
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Freedom & Fatalism: The Iliad is a story of force and fate. Does man have any freedom under the will of the gods? Are the gods subject to a nameless fate? Homer the teacher presents a complex tale that begins the Western dialogue of the relation of human and divine.
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The Incarnation: Greek reason coupled with Hebrew faith under Roman order prepared the world for Incarnation. St. Paul observes that Jesus Christ came in the “fullness of time." Homer as the fountainhead of Greek thought plays an unrepeatable role in history.
Why do you love the Iliad?