At the epicenter of every sub-genre is a single idea from which all its encompassing stories are born and ultimately linked. A literary umbilical chord, if you will. For the Classical Fantasy genre (defined as "a sub-genre based on Greek and Roman myths") that central idea, that unshakable foundation that has stood from Homer's 'Iliad' to Rick Riordan's 'Heroes of Olympus' series is humanity.
Archaeologists discover new fragments of Ancient Greece and Rome every year: bronze spear tips, leather greaves, clay mixing jars embellished with scenes of mirth and communion, the physical remains of broken empires, lost wars and the earliest signs of modern civilization. All tangible pieces of history, but so much Greek knowledge burned in Alexandria, the worms have eaten the philosophers and playwrights of antiquity, and who knows what has become of Caesar's dear diary? And yet, the richest vein of insight we have of those days, of a civilization lost to time, is in the most indestructible type of story: mythology.
The dynamics of Zeus' adultery, Ares and Athena's different ideologies on war, and the deep mistrust of magic associated with women tells us more about the psychology of the average Athenian or Spartan 2500+ years ago. The Romanization of those myths even more so.
The argument has been made that those early myths are the bedrock of the fantasy genre, and it is a compelling one to consider. 'The Iliad' is a war epic, motivated by a story of lost love and vengeance, the infighting of powerful men and the social consequences of petty kings. 'A Song of Ice and Fire', anyone?
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The rivalry between Paris and Menelaus over the love of Helen is a melting pot of social science in itself, but the meat of the story comes from the most famous man in sports injuries: Achilles.
A demigod fated to die at the height of his powers. A tragic hero to his very marrow. Remember that word: hero. His nemesis within the context of 'The Iliad', the antagonist that kept him from his great physical goal, was a noble, family-loving prince by the name of Hector, son of Priam.
Though somewhat biased to Achilles, their subplot was told from both perspectives, that of the revered war hero come to sack the city of Troy, and the prince who stood on the ramparts of Troy and watched the Greek invaders line their ships along his father's shore. This dynamic exposed history's greatest flaw: the narrative belongs to the victor. After all, the anthologies of mankind were written by those who lived to tell their sides of the story.
