I am very curious to read THAT definition of non-fiction, because I never heard of the Odyssey being refered as non-fiction and I am curious how such definition would describe interactions with gods, witches and mythical beasts not as fictional.
Without getting into banned topics, it's likely the religious exception. The people who follow a given religion don't generally appreciate their religious texts being called fiction. And yes, there are still people in the world who worship the Greek gods.
Ok the greek gods are one thing, if some people still believe in them, but I never saw anyone refer to Homers Odyseey as a Holy Scripture. He was not a prophet, but a poet and just wrote down an epic about famous oral tradition story.
My understanding is that mythology, as a classification of literature, is considered to be nonfiction in the sense that it's part of cultural studies.
I am late to the party, but am digging his work quite a bit.
Maybe. I was a precocious reader, yet when I revisit books I read at that age, stuff went over my head. Not so much language and writing styles, but content and themes. At that age, most people lack the context and experience to understand the deeper elements in books.
Your initial objection was basic comprehension and readability, not lack of deep understanding.
That is what I was pushing back against. Not every kid is the same.
Yes, in bookshops and libraries it’s not uncommon to see the Iliad and the Odyssey, or more modern retellings of Greek and Norse myth, under literature and fiction. It may get its own section (as mythology) but if so I’ve never seen anyone file the Bible and the Koran there. Christians tend to get very tetchy if you file the Bible under mythology, sadly.
Looking at my original posts, I mentioned both subject and comprehension.
Not every kid is the same when it comes to reading, absolutely. Heck, adults don't even have the same level of reading ability.
