[idoubtit]

In France less than 4% of high school students learn Latin or ancient Greek, 3 hours weekly. Only one high school out of four has a teacher available for one of these languages. It has strongly receded over the last decade.

The schools follow a chronological program which means youngsters will study Antiquity while in middle school and recent centuries while in high school. Those who specialize in humanities will also go back in time while in high school. So I suppose a large majority of students reaching eighteen have absolutely no memory of reading or studying Homer.

I've enjoyed very much reading Homer. I found the Odyssey very moving and beautiful — not all translations are equals, I read two and you should find the one that suits you. Another obvious pleasure with reading classical works is the myriad of references to them in our culture. Apart from this, I like traveling in space and time through these texts. For example, the Iliad is very different from the Odyssey, and it looked older to me; at a times were gods were among people and human heroes could fight them, like Gilgamesh insulting Ishtar or Jacob wrestling with Yahve. In the Odyssey, the main gods have retreated from the world, and the focus is on human torments and fabulous encounters.