Showing titles in Ancient, Classical & Medieval Literature

He after honor hunts, I after love. He leaves his friends to dignify them more, I leave myself, my friends and all, for love....

Oedipus Rex & Antigone: two of the most famous plays by Sophocles. Both are a part of the same trilogy, and they are arguably the most important parts of the trilogy. To truly complete your journey with Sophocles, you will need to also check out Oedipus at Colonus.

The second of Shakespeare's tetralogy that deals with the successive reigns of Richard II, Henry IV, and Henry V. Henry IV, Part One depicts a span of history that begins with Hotspur's battle at Homildon against the Douglas late in 1402 and ends with the defeat of the rebels at Shrewsbury in the middle of 1403. From the start it has been an extremely popular play both with the public and the critics and this full cast performance is by The Marlowe Society.

Purgatory is the second part of Dante's The Divine Comedy. The listener finds the Poet, with his guide Virgil, ascending the terraces of the Mount of Purgatory inhabited by those doing penance to expiate their sins on earth. There are the proud - forced to circle their terrace for eons bent double in humility; the slothful running around crying out examples of zeal and sloth; while the lustful are purged by fire.

The Tempest was the last of Shakespeare's comedies, completed just before he retired to his native Stratford-upon-Avon; perhaps this delightful comedy was intended to signal the playwright's farewell to his beloved theater. The Tempest reflects Shakespeare's mature genius, with its story of innocence tempered by intrigue, hilarity bounded by melancholy. Audiences the world over still thrill to see The Tempest's dark comedy and magical fantasy.

Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, a collection of narratives written between 1387 and 1400, tells of a group of 30 people from all layers of society who pass the time along their pilgrimage to Canterbury by telling stories to one another, their interaction mediated (at times) by the affable host - Chaucer himself. Naxos AudioBooks’ third volume presents the tales of six people, here in an unabridged modern verse translation (by Frank Ernest Hill, 1935).

The play takes place in Russia in the 1820s, in the house of the old Moscow master Paul Afanasevich Famusov, who has feudal beliefs and is an ardent opponent of education. Suddenly his former pupil Alexander A. Chatsky arrives, who had long been in love with Famusov's daughter, Sophia. He cannot wait to meet her.

In Verona, Italy, two young people in love defy the demands of their families and pursue their love for one another above societal expectations. Their decisions and pursuit of love send ripples throughout their family and friend circles, causing controversy and consequences. For centuries, the tale of the young star-crossed lovers has been a mainstay of both the literary canon and popular culture. This is one of William Shakespeare’s most known and beloved works with timeless themes and prose.

"Наедине с собой. Размышления" - сборник афористических мыслей римского императора Марка Аврелия. "Мечтайте о великом. Лишь великие мечты в силах затронуть людские души."

The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on February 14, 1895, at the St James' Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious persona to escape burdensome social obligations. Working within the social conventions of late Victorian London, the play's major themes are the triviality with which it treats institutions as serious as marriage and the resulting satire of Victorian ways.

"Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" is a late 14th-century chivalric romance in Middle English. The author is unknown; the title was given centuries later. It is one of the best-known Arthurian stories, with its plot combining two types of folk motifs: the beheading game, and the exchange of winnings. Written in stanzas of alliterative verse, each of which ends in a rhyming bob and wheel; it draws on Welsh, Irish, and English stories, as well as the French chivalric tradition.

A Midsummer Night's Dream is a comedy written by William Shakespeare. It portrays the events surrounding the marriage of Theseus, the Duke of Athens, to Hippolyta, the former queen of the Amazons. These include the adventures of four young Athenian lovers and a group of six amateur actors (the mechanicals) who are controlled and manipulated by the fairies who inhabit the forest in which most of the play is set. The play is one of Shakespeare's most popular works for the stage and is widely performed across the world.

Francesco Petrarch’s Canzoniere (translated in English as ‘Scattered Rhymes’) is a collection of 14th century poems famed for their exploration of love, grief, spirituality and nature. Peter Thornton's accessible new translation brings Petrarch to the 21st century in direct, rhymed, English verse - for academics and poetry enthusiasts alike.

Nora, a banker's pampered and petted wife, forges a signature to obtain money for her ailing husband. The play's theme, touting a woman's independence, shocked audiences at the time of its premiere.

Many stories have stood the test of time, but this selection have entranced audiences for thousands of years and remain as fresh today as they were when first told. A fascinating collection which gives vivid insights into lives in ancient times and the issues that occupied the people of the day.

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!

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.

Although he achieved notable success as a novelist, poet, essayist, and painter, August Strindberg is best known today as one of the first and most significant masters of naturalist theatre. Among his many dramatic works are a number of one-act plays, four of which are presented in this recording. All of the plays feature a persistent theme in Strindberg's works: the inevitable disillusion that results from intense involvement in relationships, whether they be familial, romantic or circumstantial.

"Les Fleurs du mal", in english "The Flowers of Evil" is a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire. First published in 1857 it was important in the symbolist and modernist movements. The poems deal with themes relating to decadence and eroticism. Baudelaire dedicated the book to the poet Théophile Gautier, describing him as a "parfait magicien des lettres françaises" ("a perfect magician of French letters").The author and the publisher were prosecuted under the regime of the Second Empire as an "outrage aux bonnes mœurs" ("an insult to public decency").

This entertaining introduction to Shakespeare's work weaves biographical information with excerpts from 33 of his plays. Informative, well-researched commentary, written by two Royal Shakespeare Company actors, provides a glimpse of the man and little-known lore about his work.