Ancient, classical and medieval texts Books

Book SynopsisThis accessible edition for students presents Herodotus as one of the most fascinating and colourful authors from the ancient world. Book III of Herodotus' nine-book work is one of the richest in its exploration of themes, such as the practices and customs of different peoples and the nature of political power, issues still much debated today. This commentary illuminates the geographical and even anthropological scope of Herodotus'' history, and enables students to confidently tackle the text in the original Greek. Bringing together a full introduction, text, commentary and translation, Longley makes Herodotus accessible to students of ancient Greek. This guide shows us why Herodotus is still considered the Father of History'.Table of ContentsList of Abbreviations Maps of Greece, Persia and North Africa 1. Introduction i) The Histories of Herodotus - What we Know about Herodotus Himself - Histories ii) Herodotus as Historian - Herodotus on Historical Enquiry - To Include or not to Include - Speeches in History iii) Where Book III Fits in - Content and Structure - Themes and Thought iv) Book III and Fifth-Century Thought - Political Philosophy: v) Herodotus: Language and Style - Prose Style and Literary Technique - Features of Ionic Dialect Compared to Attic 2. Text 3. Commentary - Historical Background and Context before Sections as Relevant - Points of Historical Accuracy - Points of Literary and Stylistic Interest - Points of Language and Dialect - Grammar and Translation Comment and Assistance where Needed Appendix – Quotations from other Fifth-Century Authors on Key Themes of Greek Thought of the Time Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe only exam-board approved book for the texts examined as part of OCR's GCSE in Latin for examination in 20272028.

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Book SynopsisIn this epic tale of extraordinary voyages, tumultuous love affairs and deadly conflicts, Virgil tells the unforgettable story of Aeneas and the origins of the Roman people. It begins as Aeneas sets sail from Troy in search of a better life in the aftermath of the city''s destruction. His travels take him to Carthage, to the underworld and finally to Italy, where he founds the city that will produce one of the most powerful empires the world has ever known. Beautifully written, this epic poem proves a more than worthy successor to Homer''s epics The Iliad and The Odyssey. Filled with heroic feats and unbridled passion, The Aeneid is a consummate portrait of a man torn between his duty to his people and his own heart.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Arcturus Classics series brings together high-quality paperback editions of classics works, presented with contemporary graphic cover designs. Together they make a wonderful

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Book SynopsisForegrounds underrepresented agents (women, nature and the nonhuman) in and through the poetry of TheocritusTrade Review"A brilliant reading of Theocritus that puts his poetry in conversation with new materialism, object-oriented ontology and material ecocriticism. Canevaro hears things in ancient pastoral that haven't been heard before and she voices them wonderfully well. This is a thoughtful, thought-provoking and beautifully written book that everyone working on ancient poetry should read. " -Mark Payne, University of Chicago

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Book SynopsisA compendium of ruminations and reflections by the second-century Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, a staunch adherent to the Stoic philosophy.

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Book SynopsisThis is the OCR endorsed publication from Bloomsbury for the Greek GCSE set text prescriptions examined from 2018 to 2024. The texts covered are:HomerOdyssey 6:48159Iliad 3:1112Odyssey 7:184297HerodotusHistories 1.304, 867 and 6.125 (Solon & Croesus; How Alcmaeon Was Enriched by Croesus)Histories 3.1725, 38 (The Ethiopians; The Power of Custom)Histories 2.2, 6970, 12933, 312 (Psammetichus; Crocodiles; Mycerinus; Pygmies)EuripidesAlcestis 280393Electra 215331Bacchae 434508, 80038PlatoPhaedo 59c60a, 115bd, 116bd, 117c18aPlutarchA Spartan ChildhoodLucianAnacharsis and Athletics The Isle of the BlestThe volume starts with an introduction to ancient Greek history and culture, which will set in context the passages for the exams and give guidance on how to translate ancient Greek. The prescribed texts are set out in clear passages facing commentary notes, with further informTrade ReviewProvides a wide selection of mostly unadapted readings from Homer Herodotus (in Attic dialect), Euripides, Plato, Plutarch, and Lucian, enhanced by thorough introductions and fairly heavy glossing of the vocabulary. The overall production of the volume is marked by a similar clarity of presentation (blue and black font, illustrations, notes, etc.) and overall high quality, starting from a generous Introduction and featuring, among other useful items, a ‘How to use this book’ orientation, some Tips for Translation, a Timeline of events and classical authors, as well as a full 2-page map of the Eastern Mediterranean world, indicating the most important city-states and including Greece, Asia Minor, and North Africa … Affleck and Letchford’s OCR Anthology of appealing and generously-framed readings, which span some 1,000 years of Greek culture, will prove a rich and stimulating complement for the third semester (college) or spring of the second-year (high school), culminating in selected original texts of Euripides (Alcestis, Electra, Bacchae), Plato (Phaedo), Plutarch (Life of Lycurgus) and Lucian. * New England Classical Journal *This is a beautifully produced textbook, with attractive embossing on front and back covers, a lovely thing to hold and behold ... An innovation, and one which most purchasers will welcome, is that all the prescribed texts until 2023 are included ... Also useful are the typical questions to be found on most pages, a mixture of the factual and the thought-provoking. * Journal of Classics Teaching *Table of ContentsPreface Introduction Table of Texts How to Use this Book Tips for Translation Timeline Who’s Who Map of the Ancient Mediterranean Technical terms Discussion of literary style Homer Odyssey 6.48-159 (2018-2019 prescription) Iliad 3.1-112 (2020-2022 prescription) Odyssey 7.184-297 (2023-2024 prescription) Herodotus Solon and Croesus; How Alcmaeon was enriched by Croesus (2018-2019 prescription) The Ethiopians; The Power of Custom (2020-2022 prescription) Psammetichus; Crocodiles; Mycerinus; Pygmies (2023-2024 prescription) Euripides Alcestis 280-393 (2018-2019 prescription) Electra 215-331 (2020-2022 prescription) Bacchae 434-508, 800-838 (2023-2024 prescription) Plato Phaedo 59c10-118.19 (2023-2024 prescription) Plutarch A Spartan Childhood (2018-2019 prescription) Lucian Anacharsis and Athletics (2018-2019 prescription) The Isle of the Blest (2020-2022 prescription) OCR Greek GCSE Defined Vocabulary List

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Book SynopsisPoems of love and battle by Arabia's legendary warrior From the sixth-century highlands of Najd in the Arabian peninsula, on the eve of the advent of Islam, come the strident cries of a legendary warrior and poet. The black outcast son of an Arab father and an Ethiopian slave mother, ''Antarah ibn Shaddad struggled to win the recognition of his father and tribe. He defied social norms and, despite his outcast status, loyally defended his people. ''Antarah captured his tumultuous life in uncompromising poetry that combines flashes of tenderness with blood-curdling violence. His war songs are testaments to his life-long battle to win the recognition of his people and the hand of ''Ablah, the free-born woman he loved but who was denied him by her family. War Songs presents the poetry attributed to ''Antarah and includes a selection of poems taken from the later Epic of ''Antar, a popular story-cycle that continues to captivate and charm Arab audiences toTrade ReviewAn unmistakable voice...What is perhaps most beautiful about War Songs is how 'Antarah hints at tenderness beneath the violence, defending slaughter for a cause and remaining faithful to tribe and family, even in the face of death. * Marginalia (Los Angeles Review of Books) *The Library of Arabic Literature has another landmark success with this so-called untranslatable poet...Sixth-century Arabia may be 'strange,' but the years of struggle on the part of this scholar-writer and his poet collaborator have given the general reader a visceral insight into this world in compelling, beautiful poetry. * Times Literary Supplement *Beautifully accomplished by James E. Montgomery in collaboration with fellow scholar-translator, Richard Sieburth...Dynamic, fully cinematic translations that effect ‘the transfer of energy’ essential to literary translation...An exciting addition to the LAL corpus. * IASA Bulletin *War Songs is a well-presented collection, with useful supplementary material, from the introductory matter to the appendices. * The Complete Review *Presented in modern form, the translations are as clear and unexpected as ʿAntarah’s original verse. The volume’s comprehensive introduction to the life, poetry and lore of ʿAntarah, along with scholarly accounts of him and his works, provide an insightful portrayal of an enduring literary legend. * Aramco World *

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Book Synopsis“In the whole of European literature there is no poet who can furnish the texts for a more significant variety of discourse than Virgil. [He] symbolizes so much in the history of Europe, and represents such central European values…” –T.S. EliotThe Georgics (29 BC) is a poem by Roman poet Virgil. Although less prominent than The Aeneid, Virgil’s legendary epic of the Trojan hero Aeneas and his discovery of what would later become the city of Rome, The Georgics have endured as a landmark in the history of poetry. The Georgics were inspired by Lucretius’s De Rerum Natura and Hesiod’s Works and Days, an Ancient Greek poem describing the creation of the cosmos, the history of Earth, and the role of agriculture in human life. The Georgics is considered Virgil’s second major work of three and has inspired generations of poets and scholars interested in the ability of literature to bridge the artificial gap between humanity and the natural world.“What makes the cornfield smile […] What pains for cattle-keeping, or what proof / Of patient trial serves for thrifty bees; / Such are my themes.” Beginning with these lines, Virgil’s Georgics is a poem about the life of the world and the need for order to ensure humanity’s survival. Surveying such diverse topics as the creation of the universe, the cycles of human history, and the technical processes applied to soil and animals to produce food and sustain life itself, this poem attempts to rekindle in its reader a sense of unity with the world. Written in a time of immense political upheaval following the death of Julius Caesar and the rise of Emperor Augustus, The Georgics is as much a poem of survival as of faith, a falling back on the old ways that sustain and nurture life, a way of preserving a volatile present for a future forever in the making.With a beautifully designed cover and professionally typeset manuscript, this edition of Virgil’s The Georgics is a classic work of Roman literature reimagined for modern readers.

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Book Synopsis''A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man begins with one of the most arresting opening sentences in literature'' Patrick McGuinness, from his Preface.A Portrait first appeared in instalments in the modernist magazine The Egoist in 1914, before it came out as a book in 1916, the year of the Easter Rising against British rule in Ireland. An autobiographical ''coming of age'' story, A Portrait is Joyce''s first novel. Many elements of Joyce''s own life - his Catholic schooling, his family circumstances and his father''s financial difficulties, as well as his sexual, political and artistic awakenings - are fictionalized and in it he skilfully extend the English language, as it opens with a child''s voice rendered by a third-person narrator, and closes with the mature Stephen''s first-person reflections.

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Book SynopsisBold new paths in life and love are forged in nineteenth-century New Zealand in the stirring final chapter of bestselling author Sarah Lark’s multigenerational Fire Blossom Saga. It’s 1880 in the North Island town of Otaki, where Aroha lives contentedly with her mother, Linda—until a fateful tragedy leaves Aroha traumatized and plagued by a cursed guilt. For the long recovery ahead, Aroha is sent to Rata Station, a thriving sheep farm that Aroha’s mother and grandmother once called home. Linda knows it’s the perfect place for her daughter to heal, find hope, and start a life she can call her own. On South Island, Aroha soon develops a bond with her relatives, who are looking toward the future, too. Aroha’s cousin March is a vivacious, business-minded beauty who wants to take advantage of New Zealand’s burgeoning industrial age. Robin is a delicate young man and an aspiring actor as fearful of his father’s disapproval as he is desperate to run from it. And then there’s Aroha, who sees unexpected opportunity in the growing tourism trade beyond the continental plains. Through personal trials, professional compromises, great love, profound loss, and a struggle to survive, Aroha, March, and Robin will discover their true destinies. A country is in flux, and a generation of ambitious and resilient young dreamers is changing with it in this exhilarating conclusion to an epic saga.

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Book SynopsisInspired by the classic play by Sophocles, Antigone in Spring takes us to a fictional Québec where dead birds fall from the sky, covering highways, rooftops, and parks. The citizens demand an explanation, but the answer never comes; the government, led by the autocratic Creon, refuses to tell the truth. A revolution is brewing, however, and the population's youth and their supporters, inflamed by the unprecedented ecological disaster, are calling for freedom. Amid this upheaval, Antigone and her brothers, Polynices and Eteocles, narrate their tale. Born into a happy family that flees to their cottage in Rivière-Éternité every summer, they lived in the certainty that the world was a safe place of warmth and honesty. But when they accidentally learn the truth that their mother Jocasta is married to her own son, Oedipus, who is both their father and their brother everything falls apart, and the three siblings are caught up in the revolution sweeping through the city.W

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Jenny Lewis relocates Gilgamesh to its earlier, oral roots in a Sumerian society where men and women were more equal, the reigning deity of Gilgamesh’s city, Uruk, was female (Inanna), only women were allowed to brew beer and keep taverns and women had their own language – emesal. With this shift of emphasis, Lewis captures the powerful allure of the world’s oldest poem and gives it a fresh dynamic while creating a fastpaced narrative for a new generation of readers.

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Book SynopsisDictator recreates Gilgamesh using the 1,500-word vocabulary of Globish, put together by Jean-Paul Nerrière. Globish is a business language, appropriate to translate cuneiform which emerged from the need to record business transactions. Nerrière considered it the world dialect of the third millenium; likewise Akkadian, the language of Gilgamesh, was the lingua franca of communications in the Near East. This link between script, language and business is there in the substance of the poem. An underpinning theme involving trade, here trade in hard wood and access to forests for building materials, links the poem to recent wars in and around Iraq, where the contemporary commodity is oil. This in turn links the poem to related issues such as migration and the refugee crisis. Working with refugees in Palermo in 2017, Terry was involved with putting on a puppet version of Gilgamesh where the children related viscerally to the story, particularly the boat scenes.Trade Review`Philip Terry treats the tablets like elements of code to be cracked open for contemporary eyes and ears. [His] version is original and powerful; he does not try to mend the fragments into a legible whole, but remembers the poem’s shattered state.’ - Marina Warner

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Book SynopsisGreek myths abound in images of beauty and perfection: charming gods, attractive goddesses, and handsome heroes, all of them standards of physical and spiritual flawlessness. However, the ancient Greeks were not fond of absolutes. No god or hero is shown without blemishes in character and ethics, and some are even physically imperfect, like Hephaestus, who is ugly and lame. Another element that dominates Greek mythology is the idea of balance. Good and evil, light and darkness, hubris and punishment. What could not be missing from this world is the image of reversed beauty: monstrosity. The aim of this book is to explore the realm of the imaginary world of Greek mythology and present the reader with a categorization of monstrosity, referring to some of the most noted examples in each category.Table of ContentsPreface ; Introduction, by Richard Buxton ; Introduction ; Chapter 1 Humanoid Monsters ; Chapter 2 Serpentine Creatures ; Chapter 3 Partly Human ; Chapter 4 Monstrous Animals ; Chapter 5 Ghosts and Daemons ; Works Cited

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Book SynopsisIn this masterful retelling of one of the greatest works of world literature, Alasdair Gray - in his last work - offers an original translation in prosaic English rhyme. Lyrical and modern, this complete edition brings all three parts of Dante's epic journey through Hell and Purgatory and on to Paradise together in a single volume for the first time.Trade ReviewOne of the brightest intellectual and creative lights Scotland has known in modern times -- NICOLA STURGEONA necessary genius -- ALI SMITHGray is a true original, a twentieth century William Blake * * Observer * *One of the most gifted writers to have put pen to paper in the English language -- IRVINE WELSHPraise for Dante's Divine Trilogy: Alasdair Gray has cast a spell over Dante's Hell, creating (and decorating) a verse translation that is modern, lyrical, yet faithful to the original * * New Statesman * *Lucid, lyrical, imaginative * * Times Literary Supplement * *An ancient masterpiece glistens again as his lyricism takes flight, while keeping one foot balanced on solid ground . . . Gray turns Dante's language into clear English, sometimes with a playful comic turn . . . Remarkable * * i * *No other translator has made the narratives so clear or strong, and the distinctive power of the work lies in the clarity of the storytelling . . . This Hell is a magnificent feat of reimagining of one of the greatest of all human creations * * Herald * *Powerfully conveys the appalling nature of a vision which has terrified and enthralled Western men and women down the centuries * * Times Literary Supplement * *

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Book SynopsisTaymāʾ II is a Catalogue which contains all the inscriptions discovered during the 24 seasons of the Saudi- German excavations at Taymāʾ from 2004–15 which were funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The 113 objects carry inscriptions in different languages and scripts, illustrating the linguistic diversity of the oasis through time. Although the majority are fragmentary, they provide an important source for the history of the oasis in ancient and mediaeval times. The Babylonian cuneiform inscriptions in this volume confirm for the first time the ten-year sojourn at Taymāʾ of the last Babylonian king Nabû-na’id (556–539 BC). In addition, Imperial Aramaic inscriptions dated by the reigns of Lihyanite kings, based at Dadan (modern al-ʿUlā), reveal for the first time that they ruled Taymāʾ at a period in the second half of the first millennium BC. As well as editing the volume, Michael C. A. Macdonald edited the Imperial Aramaic inscriptions found from 2010–15, plus those in the form of the Aramaic script which developed in Taymāʾ, and the Nabataean, Dadanitic, and Taymanitic texts. In addition, Hanspeter Schaudig edited the cuneiform inscriptions; Peter Stein, the Imperial Aramaic texts found from 2004–09; and Frédéric Imbert, the Arabic inscriptions. Arnulf Hausleiter and Francelin Tourtet provided archaeological contributions, while Martina Trognitz curated the virtual edition of many of the texts recorded by RTI. The indexes contain the words and names from all known texts from the oasis, including those in the Taymāʾ Museum and other collections which will be published as Taymāʾ III.Table of ContentsForeword – Abdullah A. Alzahrani ; Preface by the Series Editors – Arnulf Hausleiter, Ricardo Eichmann, Muhammad Al-Najem ; Introduction ; Inscription sigla, editorial symbols, and dimensions ; The Catalogue ; Section 1. Cuneiform texts from the Saudi-German Excavations at Taymāʾ Seasons 2004–2015 – Hanspeter Schaudig ; Section 2. Die reichsaramäischen Inschriften der Kampagnen 2005–2009 aus Taymāʾ – Peter Stein ; Section 3. The Imperial Aramaic inscriptions found in the 2010–2015 seasons ; Section 4. Texts in three different forms of the Aramaic script ; On the iconography of the ‘Great Nephesh’ TA 10277 from Tayma – Arnulf Hausleiter ; Section 5. The Taymāʾ Aramaic inscriptions ; Section 6. The Nabataean inscriptions ; Section 7. The Dadanitic inscriptions ; Section 8. The Taymanitic inscriptions ; Section 9. The Arabic inscriptions from the Saudi-German Excavations at Taymāʾ 2004–2015 – Frédéric Imbert ; Section 10. Queries ; Appendices ; Appendix A. Gravestones of men and women at Taymāʾ ; Appendix B. Eskoubi 1999, no. 272 ; Appendix C. On the publication of inscriptions from the Saudi-German excavations at Taymāʾ by means of Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI) – Martina Trognitz ; Combined indexes of words and names in the inscriptions in this Catalogue and the Catalogue of Inscriptions in the Taymāʾ Museum (Taymāʾ III) ; Index of words and Names in the Akkadian inscriptions from the oasis of Taymāʾ – Hanspeter Schaudig ; Index of words and names in the Imperial Aramaic, Taymāʾ Aramaic, and Nabataean inscriptions from the oasis of Taymāʾ ; Index of words and names in the Dadanitic and Taymanitic inscriptions from the oasis of Taymāʾ ; Index of words and names in the Minaic inscription ; Index of words and names in the Arabic inscriptions ; Lists of the inscriptions ; Sigla ; References

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Book SynopsisSt Swithun was an obscure ninth-century bishop of Winchester about whom little was, and is, known. But following the translation of his relics from a conspicuous tomb into the Old Minster, Winchester, on 15 July 971, the massive rebuilding of the cathedral, and a vigorous publicity campaign by Bishop Aethelwold (963-84), St Swithun became one of the most popular and important English saints, whose cult was widespread not only in England but also in Ireland, Scandinavia, and France. The present volume includes new and full editions of all the relevant texts – hagiographical, liturgical, and historical – in Latin, Old English, and Middle English, many of which have never been published before: these illuminate the origins and development of St Swithun’s cult. No dossier of an important English saint has been published on this scale until now: the wealth of this volume sheds new light not only on St Swithun himself, but also on the times during which his cult was at the peak of its popularity.

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Book SynopsisA group of pilgrims assembles at the Tabard Inn in Southwark and sets out for the shrine of Thomas à Becket in Canterbury. Along the way they tell tales to one another, painting pictures of their varied lives. When The Canterbury Tales first appeared it was groundbreaking showing characters speaking in the vernacular, giving readers for centuries to come an insight into medieval England. This annotated, illustrated edition collects the most enjoyable, witty and crude pieces into a unique collection, and is the perfect edition for those who have yet to meet The Canterbury Tales, as well as those who know and love it.

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Book SynopsisPerceforest is one of the largest and certainly the most extraordinary of the late Arthurian romances, and is almost completely unknown except to a handful of scholars. But it is a work of exceptional richness and importance, and has been justly described as "an encyclopaedia of 14th-century chivalry" and "a mine of folkloric motifs". Its contents are drawn not only from earlier Arthurian material, but also from romances about Alexander the Great, from Roman histories and from medieval travel writing - not to mention oral tradition, including as it does the first and unexpurgated version of the story of the Sleeping Beauty. Out of this, the author creates a remarkable prehistory of King Arthur's Britain, describing how Alexander the Great gives the island to Perceforest, who has to purge the island of magic-wielding knights descended from Darnant the Enchanter, despite their supernatural powers. Perceforest then founds the knightly order of the "Franc Palais", an ideal of chivalric civilisation which prefigures the Round Table of Arthur and indeed that of Edward III; but that civilisation is, as the author shows, all too fragile. The action all takes place in a pagan world of many gods, but the temple of the Sovereign God, discovered by Perceforest, prefigures the Christian world and the coming of the Grail and Arthur. Nigel Bryant has recently adapted this immense romance into English; even in his version, which gives a complete account of the whole work but links extensive sections of full translation with compressed accounts of other passages, it runs to nearly half amillion words. A Perceforest Reader is an ideal introduction to the remarkable world portrayed in this late flowering of the Arthurian imagination.

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Book SynopsisA new and comprehensive anthology of medieval lyrics and carols, in new editions, with introduction and commentary. Lyrics and carols are two of the most important types of medieval literature. This anthology provides a generous and wide-ranging selection, beginning with the first lyrics in English to celebrate love as romantic devotion to a woman, and including all pre-Chaucerian love lyrics (other than a few brief snatches). Poems by Chaucer and his successors present the courtly game of love in its sophisticated later medieval form, while devotional lyrics portray the tenderness of the later medieval response to Christ as lover and beloved and to the Virgin Mary with the infant Jesus, Mary as sorrowing mother and as Queen of Heaven. Fully represented also are lyrics on characteristically medieval moral and penitential themes, alongside miscellaneous lyrics such as drinking and dancing songs, ballads, satires, poems of wit, humour and sexual innuendo, accounts of lecherous priests, minstrels mocking their audiences, and women vividly listing their lovers' inadequacies. The texts are edited anew, accompanied with a textual apparatus detailing manuscript readings where emendations have been made to restore sense, metre and rhyme. The language of pre-Chaucerian poems has been normalised to accord with the dialect of late fourteenth-century London ("Chaucerian English"), and unfamiliar spellings in later lyrics have been regularized. Readability is further aided by line-by-line glosses. An extensive introduction offers an appraisal of the forms, themes and contexts of the lyrics and a full discussion of their language and metre, while a comprehensive commentary gives further essential information. Thomas G. Duncan is an Honorary Senior Lecturer in the School of English at St Andrews University.Trade ReviewThe anthology's greatest strength is its accessibility.... The abundant modern English glossing makes it well suited to the student or non-specialist. * FOLKLORE *A most welcome addition to the study of medieval English literature. * MEDIAEVISTIK *A welcome addition to the literature of the genre. * PARERGON *A welcome addition to the bookshelf of any serious scholar of the medieval period ... indispensable ... refreshing ... an excellent overview [and] resource for those wishing to go deeper into the field of early music. * THE CONSORT *It is a well-chosen and enjoyable collection, conveniently organized and with an excellent introduction. * FOLK MUSIC JOURNAL *Table of ContentsIntroduction Preface to Text Lyric Texts Commentary Appendix A: Music and Metre Appendix B: The Syllabic Analysis of Middle English Verse Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe great Roman poets of Antiquity wrote some of the most compelling lyrical poetry of all time, to be read privately but also on occasion to be performed publicly on the field of victory, at a banquet or at a public festival. With a freshness that belie the nearly two thousand years that separate us Virgil, Ovid, Horace, Propertius and Catullus write movingly of the pleasures of love, of wine, of nature and the joys of pastoral life, a city and its contrasts, of friendship and of death. This edition brings together an exceptional selection with translations by Christpoher Marlowe, Ben Jonson, Abraham Cowley, Robert Herrick, John Dryden, Alexander Pope, Samuel Johnson, Alfred Tennyson, A. E. Houseman and Rudyard Kipling. This edition is illustrated with the magnificent classical engravings of Johannes Pine's great edition of Horace of 1737. Happy the man, and happy he alone, He who can call today his own; He who, secure within, can say Tomorrow do thy worst for I have lived today. Horace's ode iii, tr. by John Dryen

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Book SynopsisThis volume is the first affordable, modern collection of all eleven of the known Middle English Gawain tales, and aims to make these texts accessible to a wider, contemporary audience. These poems-The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle, Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle, The Avowyng of Arthur, The Awyntrs off Arthur, The Knightly Tale of Gologras and Gawain, The Greene Knight, The Turke and Sir Gawain, The Marriage of Sir Gawain, The Carle of Carlisle, The Jeaste of Sir Gawain, and King Arthur and King Cornwall-are united by their common concern with the theme of chivalry. Sir Gawain was by far the most popular of Arthur's knights in medieval England, and the verses collected here offer a window not only into English views on Gawain but also attitudes towards the knightly ideal and chivalry. Incorporating glosses and introductions for each text as well as an extensive glossary, this edition is excellent for students of Middle English romance.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction Bibliography of Editions and Works Cited The Wedding of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle The Avowyng of Arthur The Awntyrs off Arthur The Knightly Tale of Gologras and Gawain The Greene Knight The Turke and Sir Gawain The Marriage of Sir Gawain The Carle of Carlisle The Jeaste of Sir Gawain King Arthur and King Cornwall Glossary

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Book SynopsisJane Eyre is a vivid and powerful novel, and tells the story of Jane, a cruelly abused orphan who is cast out by her aunt, and sent to a charity school. When she becomes a governess, in an austere mansion owned by Mr Rochester, Jane's life begins to change as she discovers the terrible secret her employer is hiding. This novel is one of the most read classic novels. This edition is retold by John Kennett, and contains the key elements of the story using the author's language.

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Book SynopsisThis book on rare books, holographs and historical artifacts in a single collection is a treasure in itself. With generous portions of passages paired with pictures and tastefully spiced with comments, this book is a feast to the intellect. I commend this book as an aperitivo for starters and a digestivo for the sated. Bon Appetit to all guests! Adoor Gopalakrishnan, India, Writer & Filmmaker, Recipient of India's highest film honour: Dadasaheb Phalke Award; Winner: British Film Institute Award; French honour: Commander of the Order of Arts & Letters About the Book Book of Books is a box of literary delights. Illustrated throughout, it provides a guided tour of rare books, manuscripts and historical artifacts in a single collection. The reader is invited to explore and enjoy carefully chosen pearls that dangle from the strands of Time. The theme runs across cultures and centuries from both East and West with excerpts from the works of many great authors including Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Omar Khayyam, Rabindranath Tagore and Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and such notable figures as Abraham Lincoln and Mahatma Gandhi.

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Book SynopsisOriginal woodcut depictions were first published in 1483, and since it was only 83 years after Chaucer's death, we can regard them as highly authentic.

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Book SynopsisColin Austin (1941–2010), Professor of Greek at Cambridge and distinguished editor of poetic texts, was renowned for the precision and brilliance of his scholarship. This collection of studies, offered by some of his pupils, aims to honour his memory. The papers combine philology and textual criticism with a strong interest in setting the works under examination in their literary and cultural context. Individual contributions are devoted to the establishment of the text of the comic poet Menander and the epigrammatist Posidippus of Pella, while one chapter offers a new critical edition of and the first detailed commentary on a number of erotic epigrams. Other essays explore poetic, performative and narratological features in Socratic works of Plato and Xenophon. The volume also includes an analysis of the trope of pathetic fallacy in the bucolic poem Epitaph for Bion and a study of the concept of ‘frigidity’ in ancient literary criticism.Table of Contents1. Textual notes on Menander’s Dyskolos – Antonis K. Petrides. 2. From certainty to hypothesis: Menander’s Misoumenos – Efrosyni Stigka. 3. Charisios and the divine in Menander’s Epitrepontes – Eftychia Bathrellou. 4. Socrates orans (Pl. Phdr. 279b8–c3) – Nikos G. Charalabopoulos. 5. The filter and the magnifier: Plato’s and Xenophon’s sympotic narratives – Andrea Capra. 6. Words that chill: ψυχρότης in ancient humour and criticism – Richard L. Hunter. 7. Marginalia posidippea – Valentina Garulli. 8. The erotic ‘newcomers’ of the Sylloge Parisina: a new critical edition and commentary – Lucia Floridi. 9. Αἴλινά μοι στοναχεῖτε: insights into the exploitation of pathetic fallacy in the Epitaph for Bion – Margherita Maria Di Nino.

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Book SynopsisLike the constellations in the sky, words such as aphrodisiac, hubris, museum, galaxy and mentor each contain within them a story, if only you knew to look closely. This collection retells the myths behind common words and expressions in English, bringing to life the heroes, monsters and gods whose deeds and battles have left a hidden mark on our language. Compiling more than seventy-five myths, the stories in this book feature well-known figures such as Zeus, Athena, Apollo, Hercules, Achilles, the Amazons, Medusa and the Minotaur. The entries are supplemented with original illustration reproductions of scenes from ancient pottery, and include translations from Ancient Greek epics such as the Iliad, the Odyssey, the Argonautica and Theogony.Table of ContentsIntroduction; Cosmogony; Immortals; Hades; Heroes; The Iliad & The Odyssey; Endnotes; Index of entries; General index

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Book SynopsisIn Making Wonderful, Martin M. Tweedale tells how an ideology in the West energized an economic expansion that has led to ecological disaster. He takes us back to the rise of cities and autocratic rulers, analyzing how respect for custom and tradition gave way to the dominance of top-down rational planning and organization. Then in response came a highly attractive myth of an eventual future rid of all of humankind's ills, one in which life would be “made wonderful.” Originating in Zoroastrianism and, through Jewish apocalyptic works, flowing into early Christianity, this myth produced utopian beliefs that set the West apart from the other civilizations. Tweedale shows how these beliefs became popular among Western elites in the early modern period and eventually resulted in the distinctly Western doctrine of progress. This doctrine, an almost religious faith in the capacity of science and technology to improve human life, released economic expansion from traditional constraints and has led to our current environmental emergency. Exploring sources from philosophy, religion, and the history of ideas, Making Wonderful is for all readers who are intellectually curious about the roots of our eco-catastrophe.Trade Review"Making Wonderful is a vast, multi-disciplinary analysis of the ideological roots of the prevailing “eco-catastrophe” that locates it in certain dramatic shifts in the climate of ideas in European and European-colonial cultures. Martin M. Tweedale makes a compelling claim for the power of ideology and its cultural imaginary in his account of the roots of the ecological crisis." Jason M. Wirth, Seattle University"Making Wonderful stands out both for the breadth of historical scholarship and for the masterful manner in which Martin M. Tweedale shows how a plurality of distinct ideas came together to form an ideational whole whose effects far exceed those of its parts." Philip Rose, University of Windsor"The madness that drove us to the brink of making the only planet we have unlivable for our descendants has its ultimate origin, Tweedale tells us, in the rise of cities in Mesopotamia some 6,000 years ago.... Tweedale’s argument makes a lot of sense." Alex Rettie, Alberta Views Magazine, January 1, 2024Table of ContentsAcknowledgments | ix Preface | xi Introduction | xvii 1 Human Life before There Were Cities | 1 2 The Trauma of Urban-Dominated Civilization | 19 3 Designers of the Inner Self | 39 4 From Zarathustra to Revolutionary Millennialism | 77 5 Apocalyptic Thought in the Medieval West | 139 6 Reformation and Utopia | 167 7 Secularizing the Millennium | 225 8 The Cult of Science | 277 9 The Vulgarization of the Millennium | 317 Conclusion Unleashing the Western Gesellschaft | 359 Notes | 381 Works Cited | 411 Index | 417

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Book Synopsis. . . [captures] the relentless urgency of Lucretius' didacticism, his passionate conviction and proselytizing fervour.' The Classical ReviewTable of ContentsA Foreword by the TranslatorIntroductionText of the PoemBook IBook IIBook IIIBook IVBook VBook VISynopses and Notes

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Book SynopsisThe Sea in the Middle presents an original and revisionist narrative of the development of the medieval west from late antiquity to the dawn of modernity. This textbook is uniquely centered on the Mediterranean and emphasizes the role played by peoples and cultures of Africa, Asia, and Europe in an age when Christians, Muslims, and Jews of various denominations engaged with each other in both conflict and collaboration. Key features: Fifteen-chapter structure to aid classroom use Sections in each chapter that feature key artifacts relevant to chapter themesDynamic visuals, including 190 photos and 20 mapsThe Sea in the Middle and its sourcebook companion, Texts from the Middle, pair together to provide a framework and materials that guide students through this complex but essential historyone that will appeal to the diverse student bodies of today.Table of ContentsContents Preface Acknowledgments A Note on Conventions Introduction. The Mediterranean: Land, Sea, and People PART I. THE HELLENO-ISLAMIC MEDITERRANEAN (650–1050 CE): THE MAKING OF THE HELLENO-ISLAMIC MEDITERRANEAN 1 The Legacy of Empire The Age of Empires ARTIFACT: Negotiating Conquest: The Pact of ꞌUmar and the Treaty of Tudmir Faith and Power ARTIFACT: Images of Empire: Basil II, Otto III, and ꞌAbd al-Malik 2 Mediterranean Connections Conflict and Integration ARTIFACT: al-Qahira (Cairo): The Evolution of an Imperial Capital Connection and Exchange ARTIFACT: The Ribat-Funduq of Sousse (Susa): Military, Commercial, and Religious Infrastructure in the Islamic Mediterranean 3 Conversion and the Consolidation of Identities Muslim Conquest and Christian Conversion ARTIFACT: The Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem Byzantine Christianity and the Eastern Churches The Imperial Church under Siege ARTIFACT: The Church of Hagia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) in Constantinople The Latin Church in the West An Islamo-Judaic Mediterranean 4 Peoples of the Book Reading Their Books ARTIFACT: Wearing God’s Book in Medieval Egypt God’s Books Holy Books and Scholars Holy Books and Greco-Roman Thinking ARTIFACT: Medieval Readers: Greco-Roman Texts Interpretation, Unity, and Power ARTIFACT: Jewish Responsa and Muslim Fatwas PART II. AN AGE OF CONFLICT AND COLLABORATION (1050–1350 CE): THE MEDITERRANEAN FROM THE EDGES 5 Holy and Unholy War Pilgrims and Predators, ca. 1050–1150 ARTIFACT: Holy War The Contested Mediterranean, ca. 1150–1250 ARTIFACT: Venice’s St. Mark’s Square and the Plundering of the Past 6 A Connected Sea Conflict and Integration, ca. 1250–1350 ARTIFACT: Whose Art? Transregional Sensibilities and Itinerant Objects Mediterranean Connections, ca. 1050–1350 ARTIFACT: To the Sea in Ships Strategies and Structures, ca. 1050–1350 ARTIFACT: Mapping the Mediterranean and the World 7 Mediterranean Societies The Politics of Diversity ARTIFACT: The Many Faces of Roger II Complex Societies ARTIFACT: The Mosque and Hospital at Divriği Cosmopolitan Communities ARTIFACT: The Architecture of Power in the Iberian Peninsula 8 Reading Each Others’ Books Translators and Terrific Stories ARTIFACT: Alexander the Great in Latin, Hebrew, and Arabic Their Scripture, Our Language Talking Religion ARTIFACT: Interreligious Conversations, Real and Imagined 9 A Sea of Technology, Science, and Philosophy Technology ARTIFACT: Qanat and Noria Science ARTIFACT: The Seven Heavens Aristotle: The Master of All Who Know PART III. THE CONTEST FOR THE MEDITERRENEAN (1350–1650 CE): NEW EMPIRES, NEW SECTS, NEW WORLDS 10 Imperial Rivalry and Sectarian Strife The Rise of Frontier Empires, ca. 1350–1500 ARTIFACT: Papal Propaganda in Renaissance Rome The Duel of Empires and the Web of Alliances, ca. 1500–1650 ARTIFACT: Dueling Caesars: Representations of Ottoman and Habsburg Imperial Power 11 Minorities and Diasporas Toward Religious Uniformity in the Catholic Mediterranean ARTIFACT: The Lead Books of Granada Religious Pluralism in the Muslim Mediterranean ARTIFACT: Orthodox Monasteries and the Ottoman Empire Diasporas ARTIFACT: The Jewish Ghetto in Venice 326 12 Slavery and Captivity, 650–1650 Medieval Transformations of an Ancient Institution Life of the Enslaved ARTIFACT: The Ottoman Harem Captives and Ransoming ARTIFACT: Malta Transformed: The Impact of the Order of the Knights of St. John Slavery and Racism ARTIFACT: Black Africans in the Art of Western Mediterranean Christians 13 Mystical Messiahs and Converts, Humanists and Armorers Mediterranean Mystics ARTIFACT: El Greco: Painting the Mystical across the Mediterranean Mediterranean Messiahs ARTIFACT: Mediterranean Predictions of the End, 1450–1650 Converts Humanists and Philosophers, Scientists and Engineers ARTIFACT: Optics and Eyeglasses 14 Family, Gender, and Honor, ca. 650–1650 Honorable Families ARTIFACT: Marriage Issues in the Jewish Diaspora: The Case of the Ottoman Near East Women Inside, Women Outside ARTIFACT: Women and Inquisitors in the Early Modern Mediterranean Men and Violence 15 Mediterranean Economies and Societies in a Widening World Economy and Society after the Black Death ARTIFACT: The Venetian Arsenal and Venetian Galleys Economic and Social Problems in an Age of Empire The Mediterranean and the Atlantic ARTIFACT: Profit, Fear, and Fascination: Elizabethan England and the Muslim World Epilogue: Luís de Torres in Cuba, Ishmael in the South Pacific: A World Grown Larger, a Sea Grown Smaller? Index

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"A gem of a book. . . . Powell, who wears his learning as lightly as seersucker . . . is always sensitive to the Greek, and brings it across into clear, natural English, at the pitch-perfect register for the solemn or the ludic hymn." * Spectator *"An impressive volume that we think lovers of poetry and of classical antiquity will appreciate." * Coffee with the Poets *"This is a useful volume for the study of ancient Greek culture and, with its wealth of mythological and geographical lore, could be an illuminating companion to a tour of Greek sites and museums." * Religious Studies Review *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations List of Maps Introduction Meter and Performance Annotation; the Spelling of Ancient Names and Places; Greek Texts The Homeric Hymns The Hymns of Callimachus The Orphic Hymns The Hymns of Proclus 1. Zeus Homeric Hymn 23: To Zeus Callimachus Hymn 1: To Zeus Orphic Hymn 15: To Zeus Orphic Hymn 19: To Zeus the Thunderbolt Orphic Hymn 20: To Astrapaios Zeus 2. Hera Homeric Hymn 12: To Hera Orphic Hymn 16: To Hera 3. Poseidon Homeric Hymn 22: To Poseidon Orphic Hymn 17: To Poseidon 4. Athena Homeric Hymn 11: To Athena Homeric Hymn 28: To Athena Callimachus Hymn 5: To Athena; On the Baths of Pallas Orphic Hymn 32: To Athena Proclus Hymn 7: To Wise Athena 5. Demeter, Persephone, and Hades Homeric Hymn 2: To Demeter Homeric Hymn 13: To Demeter Callimachus Hymn 6: To Demeter Orphic Hymn 40: To Eleusinian Demeter Orphic Hymn 41: To Mother Antaia Orphic Hymn 29: To Persephone Orphic Hymn 18: To Plouton 6. Aphrodite Homeric Hymn 5: To Aphrodite Homeric Hymn 6: To Aphrodite Homeric Hymn 10: To Aphrodite Orphic Hymn 55: To Aphrodite Proclus Hymn 2: To Aphrodite Proclus Hymn 5: To the Lycian Aphrodite 7. Hephaistos Homeric Hymn 20: To Hephaistos Orphic Hymn 66: To Hephaistos 8. Apollo and the Muses Homeric Hymn 3: To Apollo Homeric Hymn 21: To Apollo Homeric Hymn 25: To The Muses and Apollo Callimachus Hymn 2: To Apollo Callimachus Hymn 4: To Delos Orphic Hymn 34: To Apollo Orphic Hymn 35: To Leto Orphic Hymn 76: To the Muses Proclus Hymn 3: To the Muses 9. Artemis Homeric Hymn 9: To Artemis Homeric Hymn 27: To Artemis Callimachus Hymn 3: To Artemis Orphic Hymn 36: To Artemis 10. Hermes and Pan Homeric Hymn 4: To Hermes Homeric Hymn 18: To Hermes Orphic Hymn 28: To Hermes Orphic Hymn 57: To Chthonic Hermes Homeric Hymn 19: To Pan Orphic Hymn 11: To Pan 11. Dionysos Homeric Hymn 1: To Dionysos Homeric Hymn 7: To Dionysos Homeric Hymn 26: To Dionysos Orphic Hymn 30: To Dionysos Orphic Hymn 45: To Dionysos Bassareus and Triennial Orphic Hymn 46: To Dionysos Liknites Orphic Hymn 47: To Dionysos Perikonios Orphic Hymn 50: To Dionysos Lysios Lenaios Orphic Hymn 52: To Dionysos, God of the Triennial Feasts Orphic Hymn 53: To Dionysos, God of Annual Feasts Orphic Hymn 44: To Semelê 12. Ares Homeric Hymn 8: To Ares Orphic Hymn 65: To Ares 13. Hestia Homeric Hymn 24: To Hestia Homeric Hymn 29: To Hestia Orphic Hymn 84: To Hestia 14. Sun, Moon, Earth, Hekatê, and All the Gods Homeric Hymns 31 and 32: To the Sun and the Moon Orphic Hymn 8: To the Sun Orphic Hymn 9: To the Moon Proclus Hymn 1: To Helios Homeric Hymn 30: To Earth Mother of All Orphic Hymn 26: To Earth Orphic Hymn 1: To Hekatê Proclus Hymn 6: To the Mother of the Gods, Hekatê, and Janus/Zeus Proclus Hymn 4: To All the Gods Bibliography Glossary/Index

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Book SynopsisWritings on Body and Soul includes a selection of the theological, historical, and devotional works of Aelred, the controversial abbot of Rievaulx Abbey in Yorkshire who was widely admired but also criticized for frankness about his own sins. Freshly revised editions of the Latin texts appear here alongside new English translations.

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Book SynopsisShah Abdul Latif’s Risalo is acknowledged as the greatest classic of Sindhi literature. In this collection of Sufi verses, composed for musical performance, the poet creates a vast imaginative world of interlocking references to Islamic themes of mystical and divine love and the scenery, society, and legends of the Sindh region.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"This book excels in revealing how very modern the ancient world was in some respects, and yet how delightfully different in many other ways. . . .[A] most enjoyable book."---David Smith, Classics For All"Dr Van Schaik’s book is a valuable contribution. The introduction is very well written and informative, especially for those unfamiliar with Galen and ancient Greek Medicine. It details Galen’s early life and medical training, including a graphic description of his appointment, by the chief priest, as physician to the gladiators in Pergamum. It will be particularly useful to medical students and is highly recommended."---Spyros Retsas, British Society for the History of Medicine

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Book SynopsisOne of classical literature's greatest satires.

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Book SynopsisOne of the greatest poems of the classical worldVirgil's Georgics is a glorious celebration of the eternal beauty of the natural world, now brought vividly to life in a powerful new translation.  Georgic means to work the earth, and this poetic guide to country living combines practical wisdom on tending the land with exuberant fantasy and eulogies to the rhythms of nature. It describes hills strewn with wild berries in 'vine-spread autumn'; recommends watching the stars to determine the right time to plant seeds; and gives guidance on making wine and keeping bees. Yet the Georgics also tells of angry gods, bloody battles and a natural world fraught with danger from storms, pests and plagues. Expansive in its scope, lush in its language, this extraordinary work is at once a reflection on the cycles of life, death and rebirth, an argument for the nobility of labour and an impassioned reflection on the Roman Empire of Virgil's times. Kimberly Johnson's lyrical

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Book SynopsisLittle treasures, the FLAME TREE COLLECTABLE CLASSICS are chosen to create a delightful and timeless home library. Each stunning, gift edition features deluxe cover treatments, ribbon markers, luxury endpapers and gilded edges. The unabridged text is accompanied by a Glossary of Victorian and Literary terms produced for the modern reader. The fables of Aesop have endured the test of almost two millennia, being passed down first by oral traditions and then eventually written down in various forms until they were first published in English in 1484. The fables continue to delight modern readers with their moral messages and charming characters – the story of the tortoise and the hare as well as the boy who cried wolf are still widely told today. This collection brings together the best of the fables, showcasing the best of their warm humour and wise insights into everyday life. The FLAME TREE COLLECTABLE CLASSICS are chosen to create a delightful and timeless home library.

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Book SynopsisIn his history, Polybius (ca. 200–118 BC) is centrally concerned with how and why Roman power spread. The main part of the work, a vital achievement despite the incomplete state in which all but the first five books of an original forty survive, describes the rise of Rome, its destruction of Carthage, and its eventual domination of the Greek world.Trade ReviewPolybius found a brilliant subject for his history in the Roman drive to supremacy in the Mediterranean. As an experienced Greek politician who lived as a hostage among the elite in Rome from 167 to 159 BC, he was ideally positioned to write it. He had formidable organizational powers, and he really did know what he was talking about. Without him, our understanding of the whole period and of the dynamics of Roman imperialism would be inconceivably impoverished. -- Denis Feeney * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book Synopsis'Many people are not in the least disturbed at the harm that befalls them, provided they can see their enemies’ downfall first’ In a series of pithy, amusing vignettes, Aesop created a vivid cast of characters to demonstrate different aspects of human nature. Here we see a wily fox outwitted by a quick-thinking cicada, a tortoise triumphing over a self-confident hare and a fable-teller named Aesop silencing those who mock him. Each jewel-like fable provides a warning about the consequences of wrong-doing, as well as offering a glimpse into the everyday lives of Ancient Greeks.This definitive edition is the first translation into English of the entire corpus of 358 unbowdlerized fables. It is fully annotated, with an introduction that rescues the fables from a tradition of moralistic interpretation.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700&Table of ContentsIntroductionA Note on the TextTHE COMPLETE FABLES

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Book SynopsisMeno Charmides Laches Lysis''Do please try to tell us what courage is...''In these four dialogues Plato considers virtue and its definition. Charmides, Laches, and Lysis investigate the specific virtues of self-control, courage, and friendship; the later Meno discusses the concept of virtue as a whole, and whether it is something that can be taught. In the conversations between Socrates and his interlocutors, moral concepts are debated and shown to be more complex than at first appears, until all the participants in the conversations are reduced to bafflement.The artistry as well as the philosophy of these dialogues has always been widely admired. The introduction to this edition explains the course of the four dialogues and examines the importance of Socrates'' questions and arguments, and the notes cover major and minor points in more detail. This is an essential volume for understanding the brilliance of the first Western philosopher. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford WTable of ContentsMENO; CHARMIDES; LACHES; LYSIS

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Book SynopsisSophocles was the dominant Athenian playwright of the fifth century BCE. This translation includes his best-known work, such as the "Oedipus cycle" ("Oedipus the King", "Oedipus at Kolonos", and "Antigone"), "Elektra and the Women of Trakhis" "Philoktetes" and "Aias".Trade Review"Bagg and Scully's renderings strike me as the most performable versions of Sophocles I've ever encountered...if you're looking for the translation that best reflects the emotional force and expressive range of the original plays, you would be hard pressed to do better." -- Philadelphia Inquirer

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Book SynopsisSelections from one of the greatest essayists of the Graeco-Roman worldPlutarch used an encyclopedic knowledge of the Roman Empire to produce a compelling and individual voice. In this superb selection from his writings, he offers personal insights into moral subjects that include the virtue of listening, the danger of flattery and the avoidance of anger, alongside more speculative essays on themes as diverse as God's slowness to punish man, the use of reason by supposedly irrational animals and the death of his own daughter. Brilliantly informed, these essays offer a treasure-trove of ancient wisdom, myth and philosophy, and a powerful insight into a deeply intelligent man.For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theTable of ContentsOn listening; how to distinguish a flatterer from a friend; on being aware of moral progress; whether military or intellectual exploits have brought Athens more fame; on the avoidance of anger; on contentment; on God's slowness to punish; on Socrates' personal diety; in consolation to his wife; on the use of reason by "irrational" animals.

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Book SynopsisA lost feminist masterwork by feminist and speculative fiction icon Joanna Russ about a lesbian’s coming-to-consciousness during the social upheaval of the 1970s. When Esther, an English professor living in 1970s small-town New York, has her first lesbian love affair, the fallout brings her everyday miseries into focus and sends her spiraling. Confronted with the homophobia of straight feminists and the misogyny of gay men, Esther is left to forge a language for her feminism and her burgeoning lesbian desire. A darkly comedic story of feminist love, hope, and reckoning, On Strike Against God’s call to readers —“Let’s be reasonable. Let’s demand the impossible”—rings urgently true today.Originally published in 1980, On Strike Against God is the only realist novel by feminist science fiction icon Joanna Russ. This new critical edition includes previously unpublished alternate endings to th

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Book SynopsisTore Janson tells the history of Latin from origins to present. He offers persuasive arguments for its value and gives direct access to its fascinating worlds, past and present. He describes how Latin spread through the classical world, its renewed importance in the Middle Ages, and its survival into modern times. He shows how spoken and written Latin evolved in different places and its central role in European history and culture. Brilliantly conceived and writtenwith the same light touch as the author's bestselling history of languages, this book is a masterpiece of adroit synthesis.Trade ReviewReview from previous edition Natural History of Latin is an authoritative introduction to arguably the most influential language of all time. Chicago TribuneThis always readable book is full of interest. The ScotsmanIt is hard to imagine how this book could be improved... From now on, if anyone who has never studied Latin askes me to recommend a short, readable book in which they can find out about the history of Latin and get a feel for the grammar, I will be able to answer unhesitatingly. Linguist ListTable of ContentsPART I LATIN AND THE ROMANS; PART II LATIN AND EUROPE; PART III ABOUT THE GRAMMAR; PART IV BASIC VOCABULARY; PART V COMMON PHRASES AND EXPRESSIONS

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Book SynopsisAeschylus (ca. 525–456 BC) is the dramatist who made Athenian tragedy one of the world’s great art forms. Seven of his eighty or so plays survive complete, including the Oresteia trilogy and the Persians, the only extant Greek historical drama. Fragments of his lost plays also survive.Trade ReviewAlan Sommerstein’s three-volume Aeschylus…is in many respects the best critical edition of this playwright available in any format. Sommerstein’s authority as a linguist and expert in Aeschylean drama is second to none, and he has provided an up-to-date and carefully constituted text for the seven surviving plays, plus all of the fragmentary remains that are at least one line long. Important manuscript variants and modern conjectures are scrupulously recorded (making the page a little cluttered, but clear enough); and in addition he has provided copious notes, fuller and more numerous than is normal for a Loeb, on matters of myth, geography, history and interpretation. -- Mark Griffith * Times Literary Supplement *

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Book SynopsisBiblical and Pastoral Poetry was written by Alcimus Avitus, bishop of Vienne, in the late fifth or early sixth century. This volume presents new English translations alongside the Latin texts of the Spiritual History, his most famous work which narrates biblical stories, and verses addressed to his sister, In Consolatory Praise of Chastity.

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