Ancient Classical category: 1324 books

Nearly all kinds of ancient mythology and religions were constructed from early civilizations trying to make sense of their surroundings. The idea of science was completely unknown to them, rather they explained natural phenomena as done by mythical deities. In Greek mythology, this is how we come...

When we encounter a text, whether ancient or modern, we typically start at the beginning and work our way toward the end. In Tracking the Master Scribe, Sara J. Milstein demonstrates that for biblical and Mesopotamian literature, this habit can lead to misinterpretation. In the ancient Near East,...

A professor of Greek rhetoric, frequent letter writer and influential social figure, Libanius (AD 314–393) is a key author for anybody interested in Late Antiquity, ancient rhetoric, ancient epistolography and ancient biography. Nevertheless, he remains understudied because it is such a daunting...

Ancient Myths are very popular nowadays. Children and elders all around the world love to read about Gods and heroic adventures and feats of well-known champions. Perseus is a son of his mother Danae. Zeus himself is his father. Brave and powerful Perseus meets Evil and destroys it. After Perseus...

Writing during the reign of emperors Trajan and Hadrian, Juvenal drew on Roman legend and the history of preceding imperial dynasties as a means of scrutinizing cultural upheavals in the Rome of his day. Tacky foreigners, the nouveaux riches, women who don’t know their place, bloodthirsty—even...

Hercules was the most famous ancient Greek hero. Zeus was his father. There were twelve labors of Hercules in total. “Black Tartarus and Elysian Fields” describes two places: Black Tartarus is an analog of Hell. Into Tartarus were thrown, never to come out again, the shades or manes of traitors,...

Powerful female characters pervade both Greek and Latin literature, even if their presence is largely dictated by the narratives of men. Feminist approaches to the study of women in Greek literature have helped illustrate the importance of their religious and ritual roles in public life—Latin literature,...

One of the most controversial of all works to survive from ancient Rome, the Augustan History is our main source of information about the Roman emperors from 117 to 284 AD. Written in the late fourth century by an anonymous author, it is an enigmatic combination of truth, invention and humour. This...

A wise and witty revival of the Roman poet who taught us how to carpe diem What is the value of the durable at a time when the new is paramount? How do we fill the void created by the excesses of a superficial society? What resources can we muster when confronted by the inevitability of death?...

Alcibiades was one of the most dazzling figures of the Golden Age of Athens. A ward of Pericles and a friend of Socrates, he was spectacularly rich, bewitchingly handsome and charismatic, a skilled general, and a ruthless politician. He was also a serial traitor, infamous for his dizzying changes...

The national bestseller, now available in a non-illustrated, standard format paperback edition ** ** The Power of Myth launched an extraordinary resurgence of interest in Joseph Campbell and his work. A preeminent scholar, writer, and teacher, he has had a profound influence on millions of people--including...

The New York Times bestseller, now fully updated to includethe complete seven-volume series. Who was the real Nicholas Flamel? How did the Sorcerer’s Stone get its power? Did J. K. Rowling dream up the terrifying basilisk, the seductive veela, or the vicious grindylow? And if she didn’t,...

Delve into an ancient mystery and witness the unveiling of the most complete and persuasive evidence for the real location of the lost empire of Atlantis. More than two thousand years ago, Plato laid out a series of cryptic clues about the location of Atlantis. Since then, countless experts...

A compelling new translation of Tacitus' Annals, one of the greatest accounts of ancient Rome, by Cynthia Damon. Tacitus' Annals recounts the major historical events from the years shortly before the death of Augustus to the death of Nero in AD 68. With clarity and vivid intensity Tacitus describes...