Some things might be classics because they're just plain good. There was a lot of crap published around the same time, and most of it has rightly been forgotten, but some was great even by the standards of today. Like, maybe if you published Pride and Prejudice today, it would be received as "ah yes, this is an excellent entry in the niche genre of Regency-era romance. The few hundred committed fans of that genre will be very excited, and people who dabble in it will be well-advised to pick this one out". But as I said above, I don't think the Iliad meets that bar. from Book review: the Iliad [A Reasonable Approximation]

Greek soldiers recreated ancient life conditions in a study to determine if the Dendra panoply, armor used by the Mycenaeans some 3,500 years ago, could stand up to combat. Study authors found it did.

© Andreas D. Flouris/University of Thessaly