Some ideas, themes and plots have changed little through the centuries, and we get the feeling from reading the ancient that not all that much has changed with people over time. Consider, for example. Homer's Iliad and Odyssey. Take your pick. These ancient tales are ever fresh, and the struggles and insights we can glean from them are reminiscent of our modern day experiences.
One doesn't have to read far into the poems to discover that there is something universal about the journey of Odysseus and his friends. He's longing to get back home. Troubles abound. But it is love and hearth that push him onward through the ship wrecks and the tempests.
Substitute our contemporary struggles into the plot and you have a book of psychology, a book of morality lessons, a book of religion, or a novel. Depends on how we want to read it and analyze it.
From the ancient comes the new. And everyone should read Homer at least once.
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