Heroes of the City of Man: A Christian Guide to Select Ancient Literature

This book’s goal is to help students understand classic Greek literature from a biblical viewpoint, and it achieves that goal. Starting with a discussion on how elements of God’s master story can be found in every story written—even ancient classics that contain opposing worldviews and unappealing content—the author proceeds to analyze eight classics of ancient literature from a biblical perspective: Theogony, The Iliad, The Odyssey, The Aeneid, and four additional Greek dramas. These texts are not included, but there are plenty of excerpts, and the author explains the stories and main points throughout the analysis. In each chapter, stories and corresponding analysis are broken into sections with review questions at the end of each section. Some of these review questions refer specifically to where the answer is found in the original text, indicated by numbers for students who are reading along. All throughout, the author makes biblical comparisons, sometimes to show a similarity and sometimes to highlight an important difference. When needed, basic visuals such as lists or outlines are provided to help understanding. While incredibly thorough and full of valuable insights, thoughts, and perspectives, this text is difficult at times, and high school students may need occasional guidance for best comprehension and application. This would be an excellent companion for your ancient literature course but could also be enjoyed on its own. 396 pgs, pb.