Greek and Roman myths are great, but we have played them out so much that people tend to think they are some
sort of watermark for great mythology.
I think this is far from the truth. Other mythologies are just as enthralling.
Edith Hamilton spoke of a lack of some great Homer in the Norse world that
could put the Norse stories together as a form of great literature. But even she knew
that the content of the stories themselves were something to be admired.
And as far as the Norsemen not having a "Homer" or "Vergil", that is a matter of opinion.
Snorri Sturluson was a great writer. The anonymous author of The Saga of the Volsungs did a nice job with that
epic as well. Maybe these works are in prose rather than beautiful poetry, but should it play second fiddle
to Greaco-Roman literature?
Those learning about Greek mythology in English class are not really learning about Greek poetry anyway since the works
are translated into English. So they are learning the content of the stories only.
It is also not English literature because there is no standard perfect English translation.
This stuff is taught because of the remarkable influence it had on European history as well as the beauty of the stories.
But sometimes I feel there is a snobbery about the Ancient Greek and Roman world, and that whatever they produced was the best.