From one Homer to another, the ending to this opposition odyssey remains unclear

July 23, 2026 — 5:00am

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Where shall I start? Where can I end? The gods have given me so much to cry about.

But finally, after years of torment, it is hip to be Homer. Not even Prometheus, the god of forethought, saw that one coming.

You’ll see at the top of this column a ponderous byline, complete with roman numeral. It’s the name I was given at birth but have rarely used, other than to apply for passports and complete tax returns.

There is good reason for this. When I was a boy, the only Homers I knew of were my dad, his dad and a character in a kid’s picture book who spends the whole story protesting, unconvincingly, that he isn’t a pest. Then The Simpsons came along and killed the name for a generation.

Occasionally, my formal name has broken into public view. A while back, former AFL chief Andrew Demetriou, having taken issue with something I wrote, ridiculed it on radio. This made him, in the wry observation of one colleague, the first Greek to have no appreciation of Homer.

The Allan government is confronting its end of life. It should do so with dignity

Chip Le GrandState political editor

State political editor

Once in a while, an anonymous social media account with no love for the classics will cite it as mocking evidence that I am an imposter. I don’t have the heart to tell them my employers realised this years ago and for reasons beyond the wisdom of Athena,........

© The Age