Grant wrote:
I know you aren't supposed to judge earlier times by your own etc., but whether you should or not, my problem with The Odyssey is all the miserable things done by the HERO of the story (starting with Odysseus and his "war-weary" men finding ANOTHER place to invade on the way home!). I know I started another thread about liking really out-there "anti-heroes," but those are the exceptions in my case, so Odysseus (when he isn't a Kirk Douglas movie character) has always been a problem for me that other violent main characters in mythology somehow aren't.
Since this is a "Monster Kids" forum, one epic to mention (if it hasn't been already) is The Argonautica, which is FULL of monsters.

Keep in mind that Homer's essentially a bard that makes his living telling tales of adventure and treasure to drunks in pubs who throw him a copper. (If not him personally, at least the tradition of storytellers he represents.) I'm thinking Pirates of the Caribbean makes for fun entertainment and an open purse.