"The Odyssey" Should Be Part of a "Classics" Curriculum Rather Than a "Literary" Curriculum

Homer's The Odyssey has been popular for centuries, at one point it was used primarily to instruct students who were expected to learn Greek as part of their education, but nowadays, most young readers are introduced to this epic through their language arts curriculum. In fact bridged versions of The Odyssey are routinely found in textbooks. You could say that this epic has become a curriculum staple for high school language arts classics, but that doesn't mean it should be.
The Odyssey would be much more valuable in a college "classics" curriculum rather than a high school literature curriculum. Then it could be read in its original language. Translated works often lose something in translation. Students in a classics course, who read it translated, miss fact that The Odyssey is written in dactylic hexameter. …