> The overlap between what you learn from studying people who thought the sun was a chariot drawn over the sky by magic horses and that the Sahara was caused by some idiot driving them wrong, and what you need to know to deal with a highly connected globally integrated supply chain, is not exactly zero.
The classical epics speak of heroism and virtue. Understanding certain human morality which is timeless is very useful.
It's not like education in practical domains like CS or supply chain are highly efficient either. Something which forms your outlook is important. While most of the modern literature is not that influential, kids should read the Iliad, Odyssey and Havamal.
Value in knowing that virtue ethics is a thing, yes, but also value in knowing how it compares with consequentialism and deontology.
Classical heroes are not generally good people in the modern sense; they are powerful people. Think The Boys and Watchmen rather than by Marvel and DC. Even supposedly anti-hero modern characters like The Punisher and Deadpool are closer to/less far from the modern understanding of heroism than the ancient heroes are. Though I guess James Bond would be about right, he's a lot more like the classical heroes in that he's generally misogynistic and his violence is directed at The Other, with Q serving in the role of Hermes giving Perseus winged sandals, a sword, and a cap of invisibility.
> Havamal
ᚦᛖᚹᛁ᛫ᚲᚨᚾ᛫ᛞᛟ᛫ᚦᚨᛏ᛫ᚠᛟᚱ᛫ᚠᚢᚾ
ᛁ᛫ᚨᛗ᛫ᚾᛟᛏ᛫ᚲᛟᚾᚹᛁᚾᚲᛖᛞ᛫ᛁᛏ᛫ᛁᛊ᛫ᛗᛟᚱᛖ᛫ᚹᚨᛚᚢᚨᛒᛚᛖ᛫ᚦᚨᚾ᛫ᚹᚨᛏᚲᚺᛁᛜ᛫ᚲᚨᛈᛏᚨᛁᚾ᛫ᛈᛚᚨᚾᛖᛏ᛫ᛟᚱ᛫ᛈᛚᚨᚹᛁᛁᛜ᛫ᛞᚢᚾᚷᛖᛟᚾᛊ᛫ᚨᚾᛞ᛫ᛞᚱᚨᚷᛟᚾᛊ
(Was I taught this in school? No. Did I have the kind of mother who kept some runic divination books around even though I was theoretically being raised Catholic and going to church in part because the best local school was a Catholic school, and thereby teach myself to read the inscription around the outside of the dustcover of the first edition of The Hobbit? Yes).
> Classical heroes are not generally good people in the modern sense; they are powerful people.
I think it's more apt to say that classical heroes were envisioned as 'real' people. While I think almost all people are inherently moral, nobody is "good" in the way that we often like to portray - it's a facade. That facade did not exist in the past, and I think it makes the works consequently much more human in nature.