The Iliad

On the Nature of Things

• UNABRIDGED (8 hrs and 42 mins)
• By Lucretius
• Narrated By Hugh Ross

Lucretius was born in 99 BC, and On the Nature of Things is his only surviving work. His aim was to free the Roman world from its two great terrors - the gods and death. Lucretius argues that the gods are not actively involved in life, so need not be appeased; and that death is the end of everything human - body and soul - and therefore should not be feared. But On the Nature of Things is also a poem of striking imagery, intimate natural observation and touching pathos.

The Modern Scholar: The Iliad and The Odyssey of Homer

• ORIGINAL (4 hrs and 40 mins)
• By Professor Timothy B. Shutt

One of the Modern Scholar’s most popular professors, Timothy B. Shutt, brings his literary acumen and trademark enthusiasm to the study of the epic poems that sit at the very wellspring of Western culture. The earliest surviving works of Greek literature, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey exert a continuing influence on modern culture, even today shaping people’s values and conduct. In the tales of Achilles and Hector, of Odysseus and Penelope, Homer explored the notion of arête, which translates as "excellence" or "virtue".

The Aeneid

• UNABRIDGED (12 hrs and 31 mins)
• By Virgil
• Narrated By Simon Callow

The publication of a new translation by Fagles is a literary event. His translations of both the Iliad and Odyssey have sold hundreds of thousands of copies and have become the standard translations of our era. Now, with this stunning modern verse translation, Fagles has reintroduced Virgil's Aeneid to a whole new generation, and completed the classical triptych at the heart of Western civilization.

Being and Nothingness

• UNABRIDGED (39 hrs and 18 mins)
• By Jean-Paul Sartre
• Narrated By Pam Tierney

In Being and Nothingness, Jean-Paul Sartre closely examines ontology (the study of the nature of being) and discusses empirical issues that he finds scientific fields struggle to explain. Above all, he delves into the idea of “freedom over choice”, which states that humans have complete and total responsibility over their actions. While taking care to address, build on, and refute the works of Descartes, Husserl, Hegel, and other earlier philosophers, Sartre covers “Being-for-itself”, “Being-for-others”, and ethics.

The Odyssey

• UNABRIDGED (13 hrs and 26 mins)
• By Homer (translated by Robert Fagles)
• Narrated By Ian McKellen
• Whispersync for Voice-ready