Ancient Classics

While the Puranas mention that Lord Brahma becomes an avatar whenever Lord Vishnu comes to Earth to establish dharma, it is in the Dasam Granth (one of the holy books of the Sikhs) that the avatars are actually listed. The common point in Hinduism and Sikhism regarding the avatars of Brahma is...

This definitive and magnificent 10-volume unabridged translation is one of the rare English translations in full of the epic. Bibek Debroy makes the Mahabharata marvellously accessible to contemporary readers. Dispute over land and kingdom may lie at the heart of this story of war...

Frederick Lazarus Light's resolve to write a greater Iliad in English than Homer composed in Greek is manifest. This translation impersonates Homeric Greek. It runs with Achilleus and like man-shattering Hector in the shock of arms is resolutely sharp. As unrelenting as sublimity, not yielding lyrically, unprosaically vindicating Homer's vision, the brightest labor has been attempted and is brought over as a consummate attempt.

La Ilíada (en griego homérico Ἰλιάς: Iliás; en griego moderno Ιλιάδα: Iliáda; en latín: Ilias) es una epopeya griega, atribuida tradicionalmente a Homero. Compuesta en hexámetros dactílicos, consta de 15,693 versos divididos en 24 cantos o rapsodias. La trama se centra en la cólera de Aquiles y narra los acontecimientos ocurridos durante 51 días en el décimo y último año de la guerra de Troya. El título de la obra deriva del nombre griego de Troya, Ιlión.

Der Autor Felix Dahn war ein durchaus seriöser Historiker. Sein in der Zeit von 1859 bis 1876 entstandener monumentaler Roman "Ein Kampf um Rom" war bis in die 50er Jahre des vorigen Jahrhunderts ungemein populär. Er schildert den tragischen Niedergang eines Volkes aus verheißungsvollen Anfängen. Als Geschichtswissenschaftler achtete Dahn darauf, den Roman – nach damaligem Wissensstand – so historisch korrekt wie möglich zu schreiben. Dass die moderne Geschichtsschreibung manches anders sieht und darstellt, versteht sich.

How people around the world grapple with the great questions posed by Socrates. What is virtue? What is moderation? What is justice? What is courage? What is good? What is piety? Socrates thought that understanding the perspectives of others on these six great questions would help him become a...

The Roman poet Publius Ovidius Naso (Ovid) is best known for his epic poem Metamorphoses, a collection of myths and legends from Ancient Greece and Rome. His works continue to be widely read and admired, and he is regarded as one of the most significant poets of ancient Rome. Ovid’s love poems are both brilliant and evocative. In Amores, the romantic mysteriousness of elegiac love-poetry is exploded by his witty and ironic treatment of the form. Ars Amatoria and Remedia Amoris both lay down the rules for the game of love, which both sexes can play.

L'Odissea è un testo che conserva sempre intatto il suo fascino particolare. Restiamo sempre ammaliati da quello che si può considerare il viaggio più importante di tutta la cultura occidentale. La curiosità dell'ignoto, il bisogno del viaggio e del ritorno a casa sono le forze che spingono Ulisse a vagabondare per tutto il mondo conosciuto ed anche oltre. Le sue avventure si sviluppano in un continuo intreccio di rapporti con gli dèi, i quali di volta in volta in volta lo salvano o tentano di eliminarlo.

A Guardian Best Book of 2022 * “Clever and surprising.” —BuzzFeed * “Brilliantly funny.” —San Francisco Chronicle * “Ingenious.”—The Millions * “Powerful.” —Harper’s Bazaar A captivating debut novel about a classics professor immersed in research for a new book on a...

Dies ist ein Epos von alttestamentarischer Wucht, das uns von Seite zu Seite mehr gefangen nimmt. Kenntnisreich führt Franz Werfel in das 5. vorchristliche Jahrhundert und gibt tiefe Einblicke in die so verschiedenen Kulturen Ägyptens, Babylons und Jehudas. Hautnah erleben wir die Kämpfe Mardukh Nebukadnezars gegen Jerusalem und die Zerstörung des Tempels. Inmitten dramatischer Auseinandersetzungen ringt ein Mann mit seinem Gott um die Seele und das Schicksal seines Volkes: Jeremias.

"Since time immemorial, India has been an ocean bed over which numerous stories have flowed and enriched the world. Storytellers from Tulsidas to Rohinton Mistry have added their magic to this magnificent repository. Inspired in part by Somadeva’s Kathasaritasagara, William Radice collects...

From the acclaimed biographer of Jane Jacobs and Srinivasa Ramanujan comes the first full life and work of arguably the most influential classical scholar of the twentieth century, who overturned long-entrenched notions of ancient epic poetry and enlarged the very idea of literature. In this...

When his father dies, Prince Jauna Khan succeeds to the throne of Delhi as Muhammad bin Tughlaq. His reign will prove to be epic and bloody, but unsurpassed in splendour, innovation and defeat. A formidable strategist and remarkable scholar, the Sultan will go down in history for his brutality...

Lightning strikes the pole sending electric waves racing across dark castle walls into the laboratory and the lifeless body stitched together by a scientist called " mad " because he wants to create life in a lifeless creature. He dreams of a son, a companion, an incredible recreation of life, anything but,,,,a monster. Lightning flashes... It's alive ! This exciting full-cast presentation is like nothing you've ever heard before!

Dopo anni di lotte e di vittorie, Giulio Cesare ha conquistato la Gallia. A Roma, tuttavia, gli avversari del grande condottiero, temendo il suo crescente potere, vogliono metterlo sotto processo, e persino il suo principale collaboratore e amico, Tito Labieno, lo ha abbandonato. Eppure, proprio quando sembra che l'unica scelta possibile sia rinunciare alle proprie ambizioni, Cesare getta il dado e sorprende tutti: varca il Rubicone con la sola XIII legione e muove verso Roma.

Libidinous, licentious, salacious and very, very funny, The Satyricon is one of the most remarkable documents from ancient Rome. It tells the ribald story of Encolpius, a man of active and varied appetites (powered notably by his passion for his favourite lover, the handsome Giton), who plunges without inhibition into the life of Roman pleasures: orgies of food, feasting, abundant sex and escapades. The kind of hedonism found occasionally in Roman mosaics is here brought to life.

The author of the bestselling Leonardo’s Swans traverses the centuries into the hearts of two extraordinary women to reveal the passions, ambitions, and controversies surrounding the Elgin Marbles. The Elgin Marbles have been displayed in the British Museum for nearly two hundred years, and...

Devdutt Pattanaik is the author of over twenty-five books and 500 articles on the relevance of mythology in modern times. Trained in medicine (MBBSfrom Grant Medical College, Mumbai University), he worked in the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries for fifteen years before devoting all his...

The powerful Chinese novel about love and war on which Zhang Yimou (Raise the Red Lantern; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) has based his latest film starring Christian Bale to be released in 2012. This moving short novel is based on true events that took place during the Nanjing Massacre in...

A noted biblical scholar explores how the claim of divine choice has been used from ancient times to the present to justify territorial expansion and prejudice. The Bible describes many individuals and groups as specially chosen by God. But does God choose at all? Michael Coogan explains the...