The Greatest Classics of Roman Literature gathers the capacious record of Rome's imaginative, political, philosophical, and historical self-fashioning. Epic, lyric, elegy, satire, comedy, romance, oratory, memoir, technical prose, natural inquiry, biography, and historiography appear in illuminating proximity. Monumental narratives of foundation and empire stand beside intimate poems of desire, severe moral reflections, theatrical social observation, and accounts of military and civic powe...

The Classics of Ancient Rome: 30+ Masterpieces of Latin Literature surveys the intellectual and imaginative range of Roman antiquity through epic, lyric, elegy, satire, drama, philosophy, oratory, biography, military writing, and historiography. Canonical poetic experiments stand alongside political speeches, imperial annals, and reflections on ethics, nature, and power. By placing works of statecraft beside intimate verse and mordant social criticism, the volume illuminates both the forma...

The Elegies of Tibullus presents a collection of poignant and intimate poems that delve into the themes of love, nature, and the complexities of personal emotion. Composed in the late Roman Republic, Tibullus's work is characterized by its exquisite lyrical quality, showcasing a refinement in poetic style that blends elegiac meter with vivid imagery and sensuous language. His exploration of romantic relationships, particularly his affection for the fictionalized figure of Delia, encapsulat...

The Ars amatoria (Latin: 'Art of Love') is a poem in three books by the Roman poet Ovid. It claims to provide teaching in three areas of general preoccupation: how and where to find girls (and husbands) in Rome, how to seduce them, and how to prevent others from stealing them.Remedia Amoris (Love's Remedy or The Cure for Love) is a 814 line poem in Latin by the Roman poet Ovid. In this poem, Ovid offers advices and strategies to avoid being hurt by love feelings , or to fall out of love, w...

“Childe Harold's Pilgrimage” is a lengthy narrative poem written by the English poet Lord Byron, and was published between 1812 and 1818. The poem describes the travels and thoughts of two characters who, disillusioned with a life of idleness and pleasure, seek a new life in foreign lands; altogether, can be interpreted as the expression of the melancholy and disillusionment experienced by a generation exhausted of wars of later age to the French Revolution and the Napoleonic era.As...

Phèdre (originally Phèdre et Hippolyte) is a dramatic tragedy in five acts written in alexandrine verse by Jean Racine, first performed in 1677.With Phèdre, Racine chose once more a subject from Greek mythology, already treated by Greek and Roman tragic poets, notably by Euripides in Hippolytus and Seneca in Phaedra. In the absence of her royal husband Thésée, Phèdre ends by declaring her love to Hippolyte, Thésée's son from a previous marriage.As a result of an intrigue by ...

Amores is Ovid's first completed book, published in 16 BC. Amores was written in the elegiac distich. The book follows the model of the erotic elegy-perhaps the most common theme of the time-as treated before by Tibullus and Propertius, but often in a subversive and humorous way, with common motifs and devices being exaggerated to the point of absurdity. However, the Amores could also be considered a mock epic.This is a famous English verse translation made by Christopher Marlowe. Excerpte...

Translated by George Chapman, with Introductions by Jan Parker.Hector bidding farewell to his wife and baby son, Odysseus bound to the mast listening to the Sirens, Penelope at the loom, Achilles dragging Hector's body round the walls of Troy - scenes from Homer have been reportrayed in every generation. The questions about mortality and identity that Homer's heroes ask, the bonds of love, respect and fellowship that motivate them, have gripped audiences for three ...

The Book of Good Counsels: Also known as the Hitopadesha, this work is a collection of fables and moral stories, often attributed to the poet Vishnu Sharma. It offers wisdom on ethics and conduct through engaging stories featuring animals and human characters.Nala and Damayanti: A tale from the ancient epic Mahabharata, retold by Kalidasa. This story is a poignant romance involving the trials and tribulations of Na...