Homer's odyssey is a highlight of western civilisation, it rekindled the greek national identify, it was one of the first books ever to be recorded with the invention of the alphabet, to modernize it is an offense, its inspired people for over 2000 years, changing characters race or gender is a moot point, changing character to suit modern culture is wrong, it should be true to the work itself no more, no less, you can't improve a masterpiece.