Medieval Poetry

Odysseus begins where Homer's Odyssey leaves off and recounts the eponymous Greek hero's final quest to settle his debt with the god Poseidon. He must travel to many cities carrying a wooden oar, find a land that knows no salt, and offer a sacrifice to the god on the site where a stranger asks the purpose of the oar. During his perilous journey, he becomes involved in the intrigues swirling among the great Trojan War veterans and their heirs and must also protect his own family and kingdom.

Las Rimas de Bécquer son hoy la más conocida de las colecciones poéticas del siglo XIX. Exponente de una lírica incómoda en el corsé romántico y casi modernista, estos poemas breves deben su liviandad a un esforzado trabajo de depuración estilística.

Ausgelöst durch Paris' Raub der Helena, der schönsten aller Frauen, herrscht ein jahrelanger Krieg zwischen den Griechen und den Bewohners Trojas. In dramatischen Einzelszenen trifft Mann auf Mann, wird um das Leben von Freunden gekämpft und um Angehörige getrauert. Zusätzlich befeuert wird das grausame Gemetzel vom der persönlichen Fehde des Griechen Achilleus mit seinem Heerführer Agamemnon. Achilleus bittet die Götter um Rache - und sei es um den Preis der eigenen Niederlage.

Paradise Lost is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The first version, published in 1667, consists of ten books with over ten thousand lines of verse. A second edition followed in 1674, arranged into twelve books (in the manner of Virgil's Aeneid) with minor revisions throughout. It is considered by critics to be Milton's major work, and it helped solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poets of his time.

Dating to the ninth century B.C., Homer's timeless poem still vividly conveys the horror and heroism of men and gods wrestling with towering emotions and battling amidst devastation and destruction, as it moves inexorably to the wrenching, tragic conclusion of the Trojan War. Renowned classicist Bernard Knox observes in his superb introduction that although the violence of the Iliad is grim and relentless, it coexists with both images of civilized life and a poignant yearning for peace.

Sing to me of the man, Muse, the man of twists and turns driven time and again off course, once he had plundered the hallowed heights of Troy. So begins Robert Fagles' magnificent translation of the Odyssey, which Jasper Griffin in The New York Times Review of Books hails as "a distinguished achievement." If the Iliad is the world's greatest war epic, then the Odyssey is literature's grandest evocation of everyman's journey though life.

Abordant les thèmes de la nature, de la vie et de la mort, la magnifique poésie de Paul Valéry invite le lecteur à l'introspection, à la découverte de son soi intérieur. Chacune de ses poésies, qu'elles soient longues ou courtes, font de ce recueil la marque de l'un de nos plus grands poètes.

The poet Apollonius is best remembered for the epic myth of Jason and the Argonaut’s quest for the Golden Fleece. The Argonautica is considered one of the finest epics of antiquity, and consists of four books.

Purgatory is the second part of Dante's Divine Comedy, following the Inferno, and preceding the Paradiso. The poem was written in the early 14th century. It is an allegory telling of the climb of Dante up the Mount of Purgatory, guided by the Roman poet Virgil, except for the last four cantos at which point Beatrice takes over as Dante's guide.

Durante degli Alighieri, usually referred to simply as Dante, was born in Italy, and lived from c. 1265 to c. 1321. He was a major poet during the Middle Ages. He wrote the famous Divine Comedy, which was originally called Comedìa (modern Italian: Commedia). The work was later christened Divina by Boccaccio. It is widely considered the greatest literary work composed in the Italian language and a masterpiece of world literature. In the late Middle Ages, the overwhelming majority of poetry was written in Latin, and therefore accessible only to affluent and educated audiences.

Best-selling author David Elliott explores how Joan of Arc changed the course of history and remains a figure of fascination centuries after her extraordinary life and death. Joan of Arc gets the Hamilton treatment in this evocative novel. Told through medieval poetic forms and in the voices of the people and objects in Joan of Arc's life (including her family and even the trees, clothes, cows, and candles of her childhood), Voices offers an unforgettable perspective on an extraordinary young woman.

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.

The tragic poem, dominated by the themes of lust, crime, and revenge, tells the story of soldiers Tarquin and Collatine, and Collatine's wife Lucrece. It is believed to have been written in 1594. It is set just prior to the establishment of the Roman Republic. It is a poem with some similarity to Shakespeare's tragic revenge play, Titus Andronicus, and features aspects of other great Shakespearian works.

Die griechische und römische Mythologie, in 15 Büchern in der Versform des Hexameters vereint: Das sind die "Metamorphosen", das ungeheuer erfolgreiche Geschichtswerk Ovids. Die Entstehung der Weltzeitalter, Deukalion und Pyrrha, Daedalus und Ikarus, Orpheus und Eurydike, König Midas, Pygmalion, Perseus und Andromeda, Iason und Medea, Caesar und viele mehr werden im erfolgreichsten Geschichtsbuch aller Zeiten besungen. Mit dabei: Eine pdf-Datei mit allen Inhalten.

Vor etwa 2.000 Jahren starb Ovid. Wie kaum ein anderer prägte er die abendländische Kultur. In seinen "Metamorphosen" erzählt er von der Entstehung der Welt und des Menschen. In rund 250 Verwandlungssagen führt er durch die antike Mythologie bis in die Gegenwart des antiken Lesers. Es sind mythische Geschichten von Menschen oder Halbgöttern, die zu Pflanzen, Tieren und Sternbildern werden. Seine "Metamorphosen", geschrieben in Versen und in über 15 Stunden gelesen von Burgschauspieler Peter Simonischek, sind so fantasievoll wie fantastisch und regen immer wieder zu neuen Deutungen an.

"L'Orlando furioso" (1516) è un poema cavalleresco che racconta le avventure del paladino Orlando, innamorato di Angelica, che impazzisce quando scopre che la sua amata ha una relazione con un altro uomo. L'opera ha una trama molto stratificata che si sviluppa sostanzialmente su tre narrazioni principali: quella militare, costituita dalla guerra tra i paladini, difensori della religione cristiana, e i Saraceni infedeli; quella amorosa, incentrata sulla fuga di Angelica e sulla pazzia di Orlando, e infine quella encomiastica, con cui si lodava la grandezza dei duchi d'Este.

L'opera originale nella versione del grande grecista Ettore Romagnoli.

The Trojan War is over, and Odysseus, the cunning king of Ithaca, sets out for home, his wife Penelope, and his son Telemachus. It proves a long, 10-year journey, fraught with dangers, from Polyphemus, the one-eyed Cyclops, and the seductive Sirens, to the love of Calypso on her all-too-comfortable isle.

Achilles has quarrelled with Agamemnon and sulks in his tent while Hector brings his Trojans to the brink of victory; but fate will have the last word. While the heroes fight before the walls of Troy the gods have also drawn up battle lines, and it is their disagreements as much as the heroes' efforts which will decide the conflict. Despite the poem's antiquity, the very real, human qualities of the protagonists and their dilemmas make The Iliad immediately accessible.

La traduzione di Ettore Romagnoli rende il testo molto più comprensibile delle altre versioni. Completano i 24 canti anche un lungo comento del traduttore.