[watwut]

For me, the most off-puting thing about classics is almost the religious veneration with witch some people treat it. It must be talked about as bestest thing by saint perfect person uncriticisable. It is boring, but also does not check out. Often it says something boring and simple, but is still somehow celebrated as words of wisdom. Bad parts are euphemized away with flowery language. Like with slavery (you mentioned it), it is not just that it existed in around independently, it is that the very old ancient text we are talking about is written with purpose to convince contemporaries to be harder on slaves. Same with patriarchy or Sparta militarism or whatever.

I did enjoyed new Odyssey translation lately, but for the love of god cant comprehend all the basic of civilization, immortal wisdom and other similar commentary around it. Why cant I say that parts of it are boring that flowery text of some translations kills even interesting parts? Why do I have to pretend that sirens or meduza part were fun? (They are not, through they are short so no big deal.)

As big as those texts had influence, some of that influence was negative, but that somehow is still presented as good thing, just because old. A bit exaggerated comparison is that if some writing of Gobbels or Hitler remained, people thousands years after might celebrate it as great old writing, chalk militarism and racism and sexism on "culture around". But that is not how it was, those guys texts were dominant because they were active in creating that culture and had awful lot victims.

It is not that I would have moral issue with the above or did not wanted to study it for the above reason. But the way it is mandatory celebrated (at least in teaching I obtained) did not squared to me, did not made sense.