Showing titles in Ancient, Classical & Medieval Literature

King Arthur is probably the most famous and certainly the most legendary medieval king. From the early ninth century through the middle ages, to the Arthurian romances of Victorian times, the tales of this legendary figure have blossomed and multiplied. And in more recent times, there has been a continuous stream of books claiming to have discovered the "facts" about, or to unlock the secret or truth behind, the "once and future king". Broadly speaking, there are two Arthurs.

The Knight's Tale of medieval wars and chivalry is the first tale told to the pilgrims as they set out to Canterbury. It concerns Theseus, returning from fighting at Thebes, and two brother knights Palamon and Arcite, imprisoned but yearning for their loves. But the real hero of this recording is Richard Bebb who, with the help of Professor Derek Brewer, the leading expert on Chaucerian pronunciation, make the original Middle English not only comprehensible to the modern ear, but exciting.

What do the Greek myths mean to us today? It's now a golden age for these tales – they crop up in novels, films and popular culture. But what's the modern relevance of Theseus, Hera and Pandora? Were these stories ever meant for children? And what's to be seen now at the places where heroes fought and gods once quarrelled?

When a young woman is offered the choice ofsaving a man's life at the price of her own chastity,what should she do? The political and moral corruption of Vienna has driven Duke Vincentio into hiding while his deputy governor, Angelo is left to revive the old discipline of civic authority...

A new version of The Epic of Gilgamesh by Sebastian Lockwood. This is the story of Gilgamesh, King of Kings, who brought back knowledge from before the flood - who loved and lost his companion Enkidu and had to find out why we die. The Epic of Gilgamesh was written on clay tablets over 4,000 years ago, in what is today Baghdad Iraq - the Biblical Garden of Eden between the Tigris and the Euphrates. Lockwood gives a passionate reading from a text that faithfully follows the original.

In this original adaptation of E.M. Forster’s novel, an encounter in Florence and an offer to exchange rooms brings George Emerson to the attention of Lucy Honeychurch. Their flirtation is cut short by Lucy’s chaperone, but when they meet again back home in England, Lucy must negotiate the demands of her station with the desires of her heart.

I hate and love. How do I do this, you might ask. I don't know but I feel it and am tortured. A Penguin Classic Award-winning translator Stephanie McCarter presents a translation of the surviving poems of Catullus (84-54 BCE), the Roman poet and punk, the lover and the hater, the hedonist and...

This simplistic and ingenious allegory from one of the fathers of Western philosophy casts light on society’s naiveté and ignorance.

Twelfth Night, nowadays one of Shakespeare's best-loved and most-admired comedies, was not always so regarded: Samuel Pepys saw the play three times in the 1660s and judged it 'silly'. Modern audiences, critics, and directors seem better attuned to its delicate counter pointing of romance and realism....

Coriolanus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. Coriolanus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1605 and 1608. The play is based on the life of the legendary Roman leader, Gaius Marcius Coriolanus...

Humphries has rendered (Ovid's) love poetry with conspicuous success into English which is neither obtrusively colloquial nor awkwardly antique.

By the time Shakespeare came to write Macbeth - almost certainly in 1605/1606 - he had already completed three of the great tragedies with which modern audiences are so familiar: Hamlet (1601), Othello (1603), and King Lear (1605). Each of those plays gives us an eponymous hero who is in some significant way flawed, but for whom we also inevitably feel deep sympathy, whatever his errors or crimes. But in MacBeth, Shakespeare has chosen for his tragic hero a man guilty of the most terrible crime imaginable to a Jacobean audience, that of regicide - the murder of a king.

This widely studied play is one of the "best sellers" of the Shakespeare canon. This production is the sixth Shakespeare play in the series undertaken by Naxos AudioBooks in conjunction with Cambridge University Press.

How to think clearly, act purposefully, overcome any obstacle, and find peace and happiness along the way. The Meditations is a collection of Marcus' personal journal entries. They were not intended for publication but to remind Marcus himself of his principles and priorities. As a result, they are intimate, direct, and extremely useful. This new edition is rendered in contemporary English, with a foreword by Sam Torode.

Renowned Shakespearean actors John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson lead a full-cast performance of this beloved Shakespeare play. Dealing with issues of mercy, justice, and truth, and their relationship to pride and humility, this is Shakespeare at his most complex and rewarding.

Chekhov’s masterpiece in a full-cast performance starring Tessa Thompson, Jennifer Westfeldt, Sarah Zimmerman and Jon Hamm. Meet Olga, Masha, and Irina, warm and cultured young sisters who were reared in the exciting hubbub of Moscow, but have been living in the dull, gossipy backwaters of Russia for far too long.

Le Metamorfosi di Ovidio, insieme all'Iliade, l'Odissea e l'Eneide, è il libro più famoso ed importante che ci sia arrivato dall'antichità. Diviso in 15 libri, contiene circa 250 miti che hanno in comune il tema della trasformazione. Molti dei protagonisti di questi miti sono alla base della nostra cultura. Solo per fare qualche esempio: Eco, Narciso, Europa, Medea, Arianna, Pigmalione, Prometeo, Pan, Ermafrodito, Dedalo ed Icaro, Venere ed Adone.

For students of Middle English, Andrew and Waldron's The Poems of the Pearl Manuscript has been the key edition of the four Pearl poems for over 30 years. With the changing needs of today's students in mind, the editors produced a complete prose translation of the four poems - the best known of which is "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight". The near-literal translations are intended to facilitate understanding of the four poems - to lead readers to, rather than away from, the original texts.

Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597 PERFORMED BY HARRY ANDREWS AND CAST Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. It is the second play in Shakespeare's...

Many have attempted to read Spenser’s original masterpiece only to retreat, daunted by language that was deliberately archaic even in Elizabethan times. Classical educator Rebecca K. Reynolds bridges this gap, crafting a prose adaptation that gradually introduces more of Spenser’s distinctive vocabulary and diction. By the final volume, listeners will find themselves prepared to engage directly with Spenser’s original text with confidence and delight.