“Tell Me, O Muse” (Muze, vertel mij) are the opening words of Homer’s Odyssey. With these words, Homer calls upon the muse—the goddess of the arts—to blow divine inspiration into him with her godly breath, so that he may recount the tale of Odysseus’ voyage. Besides being a wish for inspiration, these words signify the beginning of a long tradition. A tradition in which stories have been told, rewritten, and understood, over and over...