Smart Choices for the New Century (Dramatized)

The Odyssey

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

The Divine Comedy

• UNABRIDGED (17 hrs and 13 mins)
• By Dante Alighieri, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (translator)
• Narrated By Charlton Griffin
• Whispersync for Voice-ready

Dante's Divine Comedy is considered to be not only the most important epic poem in Italian literature, but also one of the greatest poems ever written. It consists of 100 cantos, and (after an introductory canto) they are divided into three sections. Each section is 33 cantos in length, and they describe how Dante and a guide travel through Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso.

The Crucible (Dramatized)

• ORIGINAL (1 hr and 59 mins)
• By Arthur Miller
• Narrated By Stacy Keach, Richard Dreyfuss, Ed Begley, and others

In the rigid theocracy of Salem, Massachusetts, rumors that women are practicing witchcraft galvanize the town. In the ruthlessness of the prosecutors and the eagerness of neighbor to testify against neighbor, The Crucible mirrors the anti-Communist hysteria in the 1950s.

The Iliad & The Odyssey

• UNABRIDGED (28 hrs and 43 mins)
• By Homer
• Narrated By John Lescault

Little is known about the Ancient Greek oral poet Homer, the supposed 8th century BC author of the world-read Iliad and his later masterpiece, The Odyssey. These classic epics provided the basis for Greek education and culture throughout the classical age and formed the backbone of humane education through the birth of the Roman Empire and the spread of Christianity.

Seven Ages: An Anthology of Poetry with Music (Unabridged Selections)

• ORIGINAL (2 hrs and 35 mins)
• By William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Ted Hughes
• Narrated By Ralph Fiennes, Dame Judi Dench

This highly entertaining anthology of verse is the comic, tragic, tender, and telling story of life's seven ages, from childhood to old age. Within the framework of Shakespeare's speech, "The Seven Ages of Man," performed by Sir Ian McKellen, are 150 great poems from all ages, from Chaucer to Emily Dickinson to Walt Whitman and many others. The poem are presented by the finest cast ever assembled on one recording and includes Ralph Fiennes, Dame Judi Dench, John Cleese, Michael Caine, and more.