--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The basic story of \"The Iliad\" seems not…" description: "\"The basic story of \"The Iliad\" seems not even very servicable, for it has few parallels anywhere.\" — Cedric H Whitman" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/cedric-h-whitman-39662_homer_the-basic-story-of-the-iliad-seems-not-e_576310.jpg" --- # The basic story of "The Iliad" seems not even very… ![“The basic story of "The Iliad" seems not even very servicable, for it has few parallels anywhere.” quote by Cedric H Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/cedric-h-whitman-39662_homer_the-basic-story-of-the-iliad-seems-not-e_576310.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/cedric-h-whitman-39662_homer_the-basic-story-of-the-iliad-seems-not-e_576310.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/cedric-h-whitman-39662_homer_the-basic-story-of-the-iliad-seems-not-e_576310.jpg) > “The basic story of "The Iliad" seems not even very servicable, for it has few parallels anywhere.” [Cedric H Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cedric-h-whitman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The statement critiques the Iliad’s relevance, implying its themes are not easily applicable to modern contexts due to limited parallels. **In simple terms:** Iliad feels outdated and unrelated. Key Takeaway Seek timeless lessons in old stories. Themes literature history relevance mythology timelessness Mood analytical inquisitive Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - education - storytelling - comparative analysis Key Concepts cultural studies philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What modern issue mirrors the Iliad’s conflict? - Can ancient stories teach today’s values? A Different Perspective Ancient epics can still offer universal insights. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Basic Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/basic-story-1328174/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/homer/) [Iliad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/iliad/) [Iliad Servicable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/iliad-servicable-4746470/) [Story](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story/) [Story Iliad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/story-iliad-2970447/) ## Related quotes > [A very great Iliad... concerns the creation of a nation. Raymond Queneau After the magical act accomplished by Joyce with Ulysses, perhaps we are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-queneau/a-very-great-iliad-concerns-the-creation-of-a-nation-raymond-queneau/) [Raymond Queneau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-queneau/) > [Fiction has consisted either of placing imaginary characters in a true story, which is the Iliad, or of presenting the story of an individual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-queneau/fiction-has-consisted-either-of-placing-imaginary-characters-in-a/) [Raymond Queneau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-queneau/) > [I think when you're a child, you just cling to the basics, which is the basic story of Jesus and the crucifixion and hell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-think-when-you-re-a-child-you-just-cling-to-the-basics-which-is-the/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [“But once your basic story is on paper, you need to think about what it means and enrich your following drafts with your conclusions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/but-once-your-basic-story-is-on-paper-you-need-to-think-about-what-it/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [The basic story remains simple and never-ending. Stocks aren't lottery tickets. There's a company attached to every share.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-lynch/the-basic-story-remains-simple-and-never-ending-stocks-aren-t-lottery/) [Peter Lynch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-lynch/) > [“Homer, in the second book of the Iliad says with fine enthusiasm, "Give me masturbation or give me death." Caesar, in his Commentaries, says,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/homer-in-the-second-book-of-the-iliad-says-with-fine-enthusiasm-give/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Iliad by Homer is one of the great stories in literature. And I thought its themes really resonated today, whether that was my projection…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brad-pitt/iliad-by-homer-is-one-of-the-great-stories-in-literature-and-i/) [Brad Pitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brad-pitt/) > [“Surely, by all convention, the Iliad will end here, with the triumphant return of its vindicated hero. But the Iliad is not a conventional…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-alexander/surely-by-all-convention-the-iliad-will-end-here-with-the-triumphant/) [Caroline Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-alexander/) > [“Thetis knew this woman had conquered the unconquerable, without knowing she had done so.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janell-rhiannon/thetis-knew-this-woman-had-conquered-the-unconquerable-without/) [Janell Rhiannon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janell-rhiannon/) > [Stripped of its plot, the 'Iliad' is a scattering of names and biographies of ordinary soldiers: men who trip over their shields, lose their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-oswald/stripped-of-its-plot-the-iliad-is-a-scattering-of-names-and/) [Alice Oswald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-oswald/) > [“so evenly was strained their war and battle, till the moment when Zeus gave the greater renown to Hector, son of Priam, who was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/so-evenly-was-strained-their-war-and-battle-till-the-moment-when-zeus/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Something greater than the Iliad now springs to birth -Nescio quid maius nascitur Iliade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/propertius/something-greater-than-the-iliad-now-springs-to-birth-nescio-quid/) [Propertius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/propertius/) > [The Iliad is the private lives of people thrown into disorder by history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-queneau/the-iliad-is-the-private-lives-of-people-thrown-into-disorder-by/) [Raymond Queneau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-queneau/) > [The Iliad is only great because all life is a battle, The Odyssey because all life is a journey, The Book of Job because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-iliad-is-only-great-because-all-life-is-a-battle-the-odyssey/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“we're looking for a planeet on the strength of a song. it's crazy I know, but its the only chance we have to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-kagan/we-re-looking-for-a-planeet-on-the-strength-of-a-song-it-s-crazy-i/) [Janet Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-kagan/) ## More by Cedric H Whitman > [Personal integrity in Achilles achieves the form and authority of immanent divinity, with its inviolable, lonely singleness, half repellent because of its almost inhuman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cedric-h-whitman/personal-integrity-in-achilles-achieves-the-form-and-authority-of/) [Cedric H Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cedric-h-whitman/) > [It is perhaps not surprising, amid the general leveling of individual aspirations in the growing megalopolis that it was the "Odyssey", not the "Iliad"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cedric-h-whitman/it-is-perhaps-not-surprising-amid-the-general-leveling-of-individual/) [Cedric H Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cedric-h-whitman/) > [In earlier antiquity, no doubt, the multiple and not necessarily consistent aspects of the Greek character found little difficulty in embracing spiritually, if not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cedric-h-whitman/in-earlier-antiquity-no-doubt-the-multiple-and-not-necessarily/) [Cedric H Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cedric-h-whitman/) > [Achilles' absolute, like every heroic absolute, finds its telos or fulfillment, not in dislocating the world as it is, but in self-destruction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cedric-h-whitman/achilles-absolute-like-every-heroic-absolute-finds-its-telos-or/) [Cedric H Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cedric-h-whitman/) > [Odysseus sees reality as the situation or problem before him; Achilles sees it as something in himself, and the problem is to identify himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cedric-h-whitman/odysseus-sees-reality-as-the-situation-or-problem-before-him-achilles/) [Cedric H Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cedric-h-whitman/) > [To the semidivine hero, the mere fact of ruling over more men does not constitute greatness, and as for glory from Zeus, Achilles will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cedric-h-whitman/to-the-semidivine-hero-the-mere-fact-of-ruling-over-more-men-does-not/) [Cedric H Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cedric-h-whitman/) > [The fact that Achilles is the one to take the initiative (in the Chryse affair) is in itself significant: he feels responsiblity and concern…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cedric-h-whitman/the-fact-that-achilles-is-the-one-to-take-the-initiative-in-the/) [Cedric H Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cedric-h-whitman/) > [The Wrath of Achilles had probably been an epic subject for generations when Homer found it, and the germ of its meaning, the conflict…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cedric-h-whitman/the-wrath-of-achilles-had-probably-been-an-epic-subject-for/) [Cedric H Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cedric-h-whitman/) > [To reveal death all at once would be to see it absolute, and not as the veiled end of the temporal process; yet such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cedric-h-whitman/to-reveal-death-all-at-once-would-be-to-see-it-absolute-and-not-as/) [Cedric H Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cedric-h-whitman/) > [There is a wonderful passage in the Odyssey where Odysseus meets the ghost of Achilles in Hades. They are profoundly courteous to each other.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cedric-h-whitman/there-is-a-wonderful-passage-in-the-odyssey-where-odysseus-meets-the/) [Cedric H Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cedric-h-whitman/) [Explore all 11 Cedric H Whitman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cedric-h-whitman/) ## More Homer quotes > [It is true that from a behavioral economics perspective we are fallible, easily confused, not that smart, and often irrational. We are more like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-ariely/it-is-true-that-from-a-behavioral-economics-perspective-we-are/) [Dan Ariely](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-ariely/) > [“we're looking for a planeet on the strength of a song. it's crazy I know, but its the only chance we have to do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-kagan/we-re-looking-for-a-planeet-on-the-strength-of-a-song-it-s-crazy-i/) [Janet Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-kagan/) > [“Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story of that man skilled in all ways of contending, the wanderer, harried for years…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/homer/sing-in-me-muse-and-through-me-tell-the-story-of-that-man-skilled-in/) [Homer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/homer/) > [Homer, Hesiod, Pythagoras, Plato, and Cicero, just to name a few, all lived in pagan societies. Some of the greatest political and military leaders…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brendan-myers/homer-hesiod-pythagoras-plato-and-cicero-just-to-name-a-few-all-lived/) [Brendan Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brendan-myers/) > [I've seen few things more depressing than the end-of-season Giants-Padres series in 2001 in which Barry Bonds hit his 68th homer of the year…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-rodrick/i-ve-seen-few-things-more-depressing-than-the-end-of-season-giants/) [Stephen Rodrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-rodrick/) > [The Iliad is only great because all life is a battle, The Odyssey because all life is a journey, The Book of Job because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-iliad-is-only-great-because-all-life-is-a-battle-the-odyssey/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > ['The Odyssey' is a great poem to refugee-dom... Odysseus is not entirely a refugee... he's somebody who's blown off course. The entire book is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-osborne/the-odyssey-is-a-great-poem-to-refugee-dom-odysseus-is-not-entirely-a/) [Lawrence Osborne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-osborne/) > [The Iliad is the private lives of people thrown into disorder by history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-queneau/the-iliad-is-the-private-lives-of-people-thrown-into-disorder-by/) [Raymond Queneau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-queneau/) > [We see then how far the monuments of wit and learning are more durable than the monuments of power, or of the hands. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francis-bacon/we-see-then-how-far-the-monuments-of-wit-and-learning-are-more/) [Francis Bacon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francis-bacon/) > [“The Odyssey was written by Homer, or another Greek of the same name.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/the-odyssey-was-written-by-homer-or-another-greek-of-the-same-name/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Everything since Homer has improved, except poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-leopardi/everything-since-homer-has-improved-except-poetry/) [Giacomo Leopardi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-leopardi/) > [Homer and Hesiod attributed to the gods all things which are disreputable and worthy of blame when done by men; and they told of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xenophanes/homer-and-hesiod-attributed-to-the-gods-all-things-which-are/) [Xenophanes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xenophanes/) > [“For a long time the human instinct to understand was thwarted by facile religious explanations, as in ancient Greece in the time of Homer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/for-a-long-time-the-human-instinct-to-understand-was-thwarted-by/) [Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/) > [There were poets before Homer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/there-were-poets-before-homer/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [“Nestor is the spokesman for the status quo, for the tradition-hallowed belief that institutional power equates with unquestioned authority.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-alexander/nestor-is-the-spokesman-for-the-status-quo-for-the-tradition-hallowed/) [Caroline Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-alexander/) [Browse all 228 Homer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/homer/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The basic story of \"The Iliad\" seems not even very servicable, for it has few parallels anywhere.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Cedric H Whitman" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cedric-h-whitman/the-basic-story-of-the-iliad-seems-not-even-very-servicable-for-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Homer" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cedric-h-whitman/the-basic-story-of-the-iliad-seems-not-even-very-servicable-for-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/cedric-h-whitman-39662_homer_the-basic-story-of-the-iliad-seems-not-e_576310.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/cedric-h-whitman-39662_homer_the-basic-story-of-the-iliad-seems-not-e_576310.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad8/cedric-h-whitman-39662_homer_the-basic-story-of-the-iliad-seems-not-e_576310.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The basic story of \"The Iliad\" seems not even very servicable, for it has few parallels anywhere.” — Cedric H Whitman", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Cedric H Whitman", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cedric-h-whitman/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The basic story of \"The Iliad\"...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cedric-h-whitman/the-basic-story-of-the-iliad-seems-not-even-very-servicable-for-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cedric-h-whitman/the-basic-story-of-the-iliad-seems-not-even-very-servicable-for-it/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```