I’ve always been a reader, but I’ve never read much fiction. I’m interested in ideas, so my preference has always been philosophy, theology, history, or personal development. Recently, however, I’ve had an itch to read more fiction, to delve into stories where the themes aren’t laid out quite so clearly, but are perhaps woven more deeply. To that end, I started my fiction reading with The Iliad. While the story itself is an enthralling one in which nearly one-third of the lines involve descriptions of battle, which are often overseen and impacted by the gods who have differing preferences on who wins the war, and in which around 300 heroes are killed, my focus today will be on what lessons we can learn from this story that’s nearly 3,000 years old. But first, here’s some background on the story.