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EPIC LESSONS - Last July, Emily Wilson, Professor of Classical Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, gave an insightful interview to George Polymeneas for the Greek newspaper TO VIMA. Professor Wilson is the first woman to translate into English the Illiad and the Odyssey .When questioned whether political leaders should study Homer, Ms. Wilson`s answer was definitely yes. Following are some of my thoughts regarding this question.
We live in a moment where everything seems urgent. Politics is unstable, attention is fractured, and our leaders juggle crisis after crisis—be it inflation, migration, unrest abroad, or the sense that the very fabric of our society is wearing thin. With so much on their plate, does it make sense to tell our leaders that—on top of budgets, policies, and polling—they ought to read the ancient poems of Homer?
Common sense might say no. But after a lifetime watching, participating in, and writing about the choices that shape cities, I believe the answer is yes—and it’s not just about nostalgia for a lost era. I can still "hear" and feel the rhythms of Homer`s poems, when I studied them in ancient Greek, close to 70 years ago. Let’s walk through why Homer still belongs at the table when leaders gather to make some of today’s hardest decisions.
More than 2,700 years ago, before the birth of democracies or the skyscrapers and highways of modern life, a poet known to us as Homer composed two long epics: the Iliad and the Odyssey. Anyone who’s sat through a high school lecture knows the basics: gods and heroes, Achilles’ rage, Odysseus’ winding path home. But why do these stories matter now?
To answer this, you only have to look briefly at history’s big arc. Homer sat at the turning point after humanity’s “dawn” civilizations—Egypt, Sumer, the first Chinese kingdoms. The Greeks, who emerged from his words, went on to invent something new: philosophy, rational argument, democracy, the kind of critical public conversation that—ever since—has lain at the heart of Western civilization.
But and this is important; the Greeks didn’t mythologize their leaders as flawless gods. Homer’s poetry became the “mirror” of Greek society—a lens focused sharply on what it means to lead, to fail, to succeed, and, crucially, to be human.
What Can Modern Leaders Actually Learn from Homer?
In Homer, leadership is not a question of perfect wisdom, commanding armies, or always getting it right. Instead, he shows us men and women at their most capable, their most flawed, and—sometimes—their most inspiring.
- On Power and Humility: In the Iliad, Agamemnon’s bluster costs his allies dearly. Achilles’ own pride delivers suffering to friend and foe. Odysseus’s cleverness, in the Odyssey, is repeatedly undercut by overconfidence. Homer’s lesson is hardly an ancient one: unchecked ego and failure to listen can bring even the greatest to their knees.
- On Conflict and Reconciliation: Homer’s world is brutal—no poems shy away from the pain of war or the suffering of innocents. The cost is paid not just by heroes, but by entire communities, as we are witnessing today in Gaza and Ukraine. But crucially, Homer doesn’t revel in this violence. He asks us to see and count its human toll.
- On Narrative Imagination: The great advantage of reading (not just hearing about) Homer, especially for leaders, is this: stepping imaginatively into the shoes of others. The epics are full of characters seeing the world differently—kings, servants, strangers, even enemies. What our current politics often lacks most is this ability to see past our narrow perspectives.
- On Fate and Agency: Sometimes the outcome is in your hands, sometimes it isn’t. But character—measured in deeds, humility, and the willingness to learn—remains the decisive factor. This sense of accountability runs through every real Homeric leader.
- On Shared Story: The Greeks recited and debated Homer in classrooms and city squares, not just because of his artistry, but because his stories held together a common identity. This wasn’t about erasing difference—it was about building the foundation for a conversation large enough to hold disagreement and change.
Why Should Leaders Today Care About an Ancient Poem?
It’s a fair question. Today’s leaders face problems—climate change, algorithmic disinformation, global pandemics—Homer could never have imagined. But in fact, the heart of his work is exactly about-facing change, risk, threat, and responsibility.
Let’s be honest. Leadership today is not mostly about knowing some technical fact others haven’t googled; it’s about judgment—about seeing the world as it really is, not as one wishes it to be.
Reading Homer, and truly thinking about his stories, is a kind of training. It cultivates humility, gives ballast in adversity, and offers space to reflect on the biggest human questions: Who am I to decide for others? Who pays the price when I go astray? How do I mend what’s been broken? What story am I telling, not just about myself, but about the people I serve?
Some might say this is soft stuff. I disagree. History’s greatest leaders, no matter the culture, have always been shaped by powerful stories—stories that teach, warn, and inspire. To forget them is to risk repeating the mistakes their tellers tried to spare us.
At this very moment, with distrust in our institutions and fear on the rise, what’s missing isn’t intelligence or drive—it’s perspective. Some of our challenges (rising inequality, disunity, the erosion of public trust, signs of autocracy, deportations) stem from forgetting that the problems Homer wrote about are, in fact, the problems we still grapple with today. The names have changed; the stakes, if anything, have grown.
How Should Leaders Study Homer?
This isn’t a call for every politician to become a classics scholar, memorizing every name at Troy. The purpose is simpler: to read these stories not just for knowledge, but for reflection.
- Read them aloud, as the Greeks did and Professor Wilson suggests, listening not just for plot, but for the emotions and quandaries beneath each action.
- Debate their lessons in conversation with others—friends, critics, even political opponents.
- Ask: What would I do if faced with the dilemmas of Achilles, Hector, or Odysseus? What are the blind spots I cannot see on my own?
And perhaps, most important, remember that tomorrow’s story isn’t written. If leaders can draw upon the hard-won wisdom of those who came before, they—and we—stand a better chance of leaving something worth inheriting.
As someone who has witnessed both the devastation and renewal that shape cities and nations—someone who grew up in wartime Greece, weathered both hope and disillusionment in America—I see how easy it is to believe our problems are uniquely intractable.
But I remember what the philosopher Epictetus once said: “It is not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.” That is the spirit Homer models again and again. The task before us is as old as the walls of Troy, and every bit as urgent— "to hold fast to what is best in human nature, and to nurture it fiercely, one decision at a time.”
If today’s leaders took just that lesson to heart, we might see fewer red lines and more honest reckonings, more courage, and a little more humility.
So, should today’s political leaders study Homer?
Absolutely. Not to flee from the present, but to better understand it. Not to be paralyzed by the past, but to learn how to lead in a way that is wise, humane, and, yes, heroic in the everyday sense: choosing the harder, more generous path; remembering the price of failure; striving to hold communities together, even when the odds seem insurmountable.
At our crossroads—locally, nationally, and globally—leadership must be about more than efficiency and polls. It must be about vision, character, and the courage to ask, again and again: who are we, and who will we choose to be? Homer begins that conversation. It’s up to us to keep it vibrant and alive.
(Nick Patsaouras is a Los Angeles-based electrical engineer and civic leader whose firm has shaped projects across commercial, medical, and entertainment sectors. A longtime public advocate, he ran for Mayor in 1993 with a focus on rebuilding L.A. through transportation. He has served on major public boards, including the Department of Water and Power, Metro, and the Board of Zoning Appeals, helping guide infrastructure and planning policy in Los Angeles. He is the author of the book "The Making of Modern Los Angeles" and a regular contributor to CityWatchLA.com.)
