Hmm …

… Caroline Alexander Takes On an Epic Challenge: ‘The Iliad’ - WSJ. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

"These raids, the sacking of villages and cities, the carrying-off of plunder and women, are, then, the actions of both the men of “The Iliad” and of ISIS. I see ISIS less as a religious movement than a stark manifestation of one of the oldest phenomena in the world, i.e., young men glorying in brutality."

Well, "comparisons are odorous," as Dogberry said. This is probably a good example of history rhyming rather than repeating. And, at any rate, it hardly makes ISIS less forbidding. Books and libraries are wonderful, but there is much to be learned in the great world that does not comport with intellectual niceties.