So the Odyssey was suitable for 2000 years. But suddenly now, it’s a problem? We’ve had new generators of learners every generation. Yet this current generation is apparently more special than the rest.
Lazier is more like it. If someone TiKToc-ified the Odyssey, kids would be quoting it from memory.
Historically, Homer's epics and other advanced texts were taught primarily to the top 5% to 10% of teenage students, specifically those from privileged social classes, in various classical education systems.
However, it's only in the last 40 to 50 years that rigorous education has been expanded to include the remaining 90% to 95% of the teenage population through widespread public education reforms.
It's misleading to label the current generation as uniquely lazy or incompetent. Instead, they're being challenged in ways that the vast majority of teenagers for the last 2000 years simply were not.
Lazier is more like it. If someone TiKToc-ified the Odyssey, kids would be quoting it from memory.