Showing titles in Ancient, Classical & Medieval Literature

Mary Shelley is of course known because of her short novel Frankenstein. Still, she was always writing, and these tales and mysteries written on her extended travels show how interested she was in the strangeness of people. I also think she wanted to make her mark in a tribute to her famous mother, Mary Wollstonecraft, and her famous husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley, who called her “a child of love and light.”

Sophocles' timeless drama is often considered the greatest of all surviving Athenian plays. Oedipus, king of Thebes, must save his ailing city by tracking down the murderer of its former king. Translation by F. Storr.

Enheduanna, also known as En-hedu-ana or Enheduana, is widely regarded as the world's first known author and poet, as well as one of the earliest recorded female figures in history. She lived in ancient Mesopotamia during the 23rd century BCE, and held the esteemed position of high priestess in the city of Ur, which was a thriving center of Sumerian civilization.

The Apology of Socrates, by Plato, is the dialogue that presents the speech of legal self-defense, which Socrates presented at his trial for impiety and corruption, in 399 BC. Specifically, The Apology of Socrates is a defense against the charges of “corrupting the youth” and “not believing in the same gods as the city, but in other gods which are novel” to Athens.

Marie de France visse nel XII secolo, e di lei si sa pochissimo, solo quello che scrive di se stessa: "Il mio nome è Maria e sono di Francia. Visse probabilmente alla corte di Enrico II d'Inghilterra e di Eleonora d'Aquitania, ed è la più antica narratrice nelle letterature volgari d’Occidente. Questa è una collezione di storie cortesi (originalmente in lingua d’oïl ) – famose novelle d’amore tutte tramandate da canzoni bretoni.

Virgil's Aeneid, one of the greatest classical poems, tells the story of Aeneas, son of Priam, after the fall of Troy. His quest is to find the site "in the west" where he will found a new town prophesied to be the seat of a world empire: Rome.

The most iconic love story of all time, Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is an epic-scale tragedy of desire and revenge. Despite the bitter rivalry that exists between their families, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet have fallen madly in love. But when the long-running rivalry boils over into murder, the young couple must embark on a dangerous and deadly mission to preserve their love at any cost. An L.A. Theatre Works full-cast performance featuring Calista Flockhart as Juliet.

Las circunstancias pero especialmente la ambición, la envidia y el asesinato van hacer que Hamlet y Ofelia, la pareja de enamorados que con sus respectivas familias tenían derecho a ser felices, no lo puedan ser, gestándose el desenlace más dramático imaginable. Hamlet simplemente no puede creerse que su madre, tan sólo dos meses después de la muerte de su padre, se case con su tío Claudio.

A splash of the sea and the salt in the ocean air signals the beginning of the greatest whaling adventure of all time. This is literature's great voyage. The challenge of a man against the wonders of nature's ocean, of a man against his own weakness and strengths, and of a man against a demon, or perhaps his God, as he searches for his nemesis, the great white whale.

Scritta da Virgilio tra il 29 e il 19 A. C., nei primi anni del regno di Augusto, l'Eneide chiude il ciclo epico degli eroi iniziato da Omero con l'Iliade e l'Odissea. Fu proprio l'imperatore Augusto, il committente dell'opera, a salvarla dalle fiamme, come Virgilio aveva disposto nel suo testamento. Il più importante poema di tutta la latinità narra l'avventuroso arrivo nel Lazio di Enea e dei pochi superstiti dalla distruzione di Troia, ai quali gli dèi hanno affidato il compito di fondare una nuova patria.

Aeschylus’ historical tragedy Persians, with its dire warnings against the hubris of imperialist overreach, is as relevant today as it was when first presented to an Athenian audience in 472 BC. This new edition of the classic drama features a literal translation by Mark Will (translator of Fernando Pessoa’s Message) which reconstructs in contemporary English verse the epic cadences of the original Greek.

The Aeneid is one of the greatest works in all of world literature. It is filled with mythology, history, and archaeology; it is infused with patriotism, religious feeling, and pathos; it is rich in adventure and romance. As the story begins, a storm shipwrecks Aeneas and his Trojan followers near Carthage in North Africa. There, Aeneas falls in love with Dido, queen of Carthage. But the gods order him to leave for Italy. In despair, Dido commits suicide. Upon finally reaching Italy, Aeneas goes down into the lower world and learns about his future descendants, the Romans.

Francesco Petrarch’s Canzoniere (translated in English as ‘Scattered Rhymes’) is a collection of 14th century poems famed for their exploration of love, grief, spirituality and nature. Peter Thornton's accessible new translation brings Petrarch to the 21st century in direct, rhymed, English verse - for academics and poetry enthusiasts alike.

Oedipus Rex & Antigone: two of the most famous plays by Sophocles. Both are a part of the same trilogy, and they are arguably the most important parts of the trilogy. To truly complete your journey with Sophocles, you will need to also check out Oedipus at Colonus.

The Kalevala is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology. The Kalevala was instrumental in the development of the Finnish national identity and the sense of nationality that led to Finland's independence from Russia in 1917. Beginning with the traditional Finnish creation myth, the Kalevala branches out into stories of the creation of the earth, plants, creatures, and the sky. There are many stories of, romance, kidnapping, seduction, and magical spell casting and singing.

Las Rimas de Bécquer son hoy la más conocida de las colecciones poéticas del siglo XIX. Exponente de una lírica incómoda en el corsé romántico y casi modernista, estos poemas breves deben su liviandad a un esforzado trabajo de depuración estilística.

The St. Charles Players present a unique telling of Victor Hugo's classic tale, in a new multi-cast dramatization performed in exciting Radio Theatre style.

Part wolf, part Husky, he was born to the wilderness and carried his burden among men stoically. He had known starvation, bitter cold, overwork and suffering at the cruel hand of man. He was a giant among his kind and as fearless as the men who drove him mercilessly through the perils of a frozen world. And now, through the uncertain hand of fate, he is free...he is called Kazan, the Wild Dog. But his journey has just begun and survival against the unforgiving wilderness with his blind mate, Grey Wolf, is a personal challenge. He had never known fear...until now!

Linked to both the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth, Hermes Trismegistus is credited, through legend, with thousands of mystical and philosophical writings of high standing, each reputed to be of immense antiquity. During the Renaissance, a collection of such writings known as The Corpus Hermeticum greatly inspired the thought of philosophers, alchemists, artists, poets, and even theologians.

The Iliad of Homer is the earliest work of European literature that we have. Created in the eighth century BC it has continued to arouse interest for over 2000 years. The author intended it to be heard, as delivered by a bard or rhapsode who had made the presentation of Greek epic poetry his profession, and who had command of the vocal resources and the dramatic power to move his audience.